Illinois Fees Are Up While Revenue Is Down

By Sean Stillmaker in News on Apr 16, 2011 6:00PM

We all know Illinois taxes are going up, but very little is paid attention to the exorbitant fees we're paying too. In fiscal year 2009 there were 1,394 fees imposed collecting $7.069 billion. These fees range from vehicle registration to fishing licenses. Oddly enough, fee imposition and collection is slightly down from years past.

The all-time high of revenue collection hit in fiscal year 2008 with $7.473 billion from 1,365 fees, according to Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes's report. We're patiently waiting for the fiscal year 2010 report to see if we can break some more records.

Before the Great Recession there was a time when fees and taxpaying residents lived harmoniously. In 1998 there were more fees imposed on Illinois residents than any years previous, 2154, according to the available data from the comptroller's office. But the fee prices were so minimal that only $2.683 billion was collected.

Taxes, tickets and fees are the only ways the government knows how to make money, and in tough times the fail safe protocol is to dramatically increase all of the above.

The Secretary of State and Healthcare and Family Services departments have always been the largest collectors of fees. In 2009 the departments collected $1.836 billion and $1.744 billion respectively. But each department decreased collection from 2008 by 5% ($1.93 billion in '08) and 20% ($2.206 billion in '08) respectively.

A lesson learned is the people are in tough times too. If Illinois continues imposing burdensome taxes, tickets and fees we'll stop paying them. If the Secretary of State wants to make driving even more of a hassle, we'll stop.

In 2009 all four of vehicle fees dropped: usage fees declined 5.2%, first division and second division registration declined 2.5% and 4.5% respectively, transportation registration dropped 6.2%, and certificate title declined 9.7%. We're already paying at the pump, give us a break on the fees.