Cole: new transit plan is costly

As the state representative representing the people of the 62nd Legislative District, I voted no To the new ½-cent sales tax increase in Lake County.

The most overlooked aspect of the recent mass transit funding agreement approved by the General Assembly is one that will cost Lake County families and seniors a lot more than they bargained for - the removal of the sales tax exemption on food and medicine.

While I am a supporter of mass transit and worked earnestly with the colleagues during the consideration of a funding solution that would meet the needs of the RTA, I could not support the legislation which ultimately won approval from the General Assembly that not only raises the sales tax on the collar county portion of the RTA region by a half point (from .25 to .75 percent) but also lifts the exemption on essentials such as food and medicine.

Seniors and working families in Lake County already pay more than enough in taxes. Many seniors currently pay hundreds of dollars per month on prescription medication. The mass transit funding bill approved by the General Assembly will, for the first time, include sales tax on the cost of that medicine, placing an additional financial hardship on seniors who live on fixed incomes and working families struggling to make ends meet. That hardship is magnified by also eliminating the sales tax exemption on food.

It is estimated that this tax increase will cost Lake County consumers a staggering $71 million in new sales taxes the first year; a sum we can ill afford at a time when many local homeowners are struggling with high property taxes and skyrocketing energy costs.

The General Assembly could have approved a much better solution to mass transit funding; one that would have also met the capital needs of the transit agencies, preserved the sales tax exemption on essentials like food and medicine, and provided reduced-fare or free transit rides for low-income seniors and the disabled who meet the eligibility requirements under the existing Circuit Breaker program. Instead, we ended up with a bill that shortchanges every taxpayer in Lake County, especially working families and seniors living on fixed incomes.

Sandy Cole

State Representative

Grayslake