Time to put an end to double tax on gas

Illinois is one of just nine states to charge a gas sales tax in addition to a per-gallon motor fuel tax. Paying a double tax on gas is wrong, particularly because the people it hurts the most -- the working poor and middle-class --… can least afford it. The state must find a way to end this nickel-and-diming of the taxpayers; is it finally time for an income tax?

We marvel at Illinois' latest claim to fame -- the highest gas prices in the nation! How could we be so lucky? It's easy -- do the math:

• 18.4 cents per gallon in federal motor fuel taxes;

• 19 cents per gallon in Illinois motor fuel taxes;

• 6.25 cents sales tax on every dollar that clicks by on the pump. (That's roughly 25 cents on a gallon when gas costs $3.99.)

The grand tax total before one dime lands in the pocket of the fat cats is 62.4 cents per gallon. If you buy 15 gallons at $3.99, you'll pay $59.85, of which $9.36 will be going to either Uncle Sam or the Land of Lincoln. Kind of gives you pause, doesn't it? Not so much the per-gallon motor fuel tax, because at least that stays stable even as pump prices climb. It's the sales tax that will kill you, and with no end in sight for how high gas prices might go, the state is set to be the big winner… Already, the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is predicting the state will rake in $156 million more in the 2008 budget year than the $598 million the gas sales tax took in during the same period last year.

Illinois' pension fund, which covers the retirement for state employees, has been deemed the most fiscally irresponsible in the nation, according to a recent Associated Press study. The pension plan is a whopping $42 billion short. That's more than $3,300 for each man, woman and child in Illinois.

Although this governor and this legislature has been particularly profligate, short-changing the retirement system started decades ago. Both parties share the blame, as do the state's voters, who have blithely ignored the rising debt…

The only way this situation will change before bankruptcy and default on pensions and debts is if voters turn out every incumbent who does not make fiscal responsibility the top priority. By that we mean cutting back today's spending so the state can pay its mounting obligations and, yes, curtailing benefits.