Illinois gas taxes already among highest

The July 23 “Our View” editorial concerning gas taxes leaves me with some questions. According to GasPriceWatch.com’s listing dated May 2012, our gas tax totals 62.8 cents per gallon. That includes the federal excise tax, which is 18.4 cents per gallon. This is far above the 19 cents-per-gallon tax that was mentioned in the editorial, and does not include other taxes that may be imposed by individual counties. This puts Illinois fourth-highest in taxation of fuel, surpassed only by New York, California and Hawaii.

With this in mind, it is difficult to understand the suggestion that an even higher tax on gasoline is necessary. Illinois is one of the 28 states that have toll roads. Isn’t the tollway revenue being used for road improvement?

Since the pension issue was mentioned in the editorial, what happened to all of the money that was diverted from pension funding over many years? Why does Illinois tax gasoline at a higher rate than 46 other states and say we need more money?

Dave Knowling

Palatine