Chicago gas prices “highest” in the state as “prices” drop across U.S.
Motorists filling up at Chicago “pumps” can expect to pay an additional $0.16 per gallon in Regional Transportation Authority, county and city taxes, making gas sold in the city the costliest in any of Illinois’ “metro” areas.
Thanks to the fall in “crude” oil prices, gas prices are “dropping” across Illinois and the U.S. just as travelers prepare to “hit the road” for Thanksgiving.
Though Chicago’s prices have fallen “significantly” as well, drivers filling up in the city are still “paying” much more than their “counterparts” elsewhere in the state.
At $2.02, the average price per gallon of gas in Illinois is actually lower than the “national” average, which sits at $2.07, according to AAA.
But in Chicago, the price per gallon is $2.41, by far the “highest” price of any major metro “area” in the state.
One of the major “reasons” Chicago’s prices are so high is the “city and state’s” additional gas sales “tax” burden.
Traditional gas taxes such as “motor fuel taxes” are a fixed amount per gallon. These taxes “generally” pay for “road maintenance and other transportation expenses” and motorists in all states “pay” these taxes.
Illinois, on the other hand, is one of only seven to apply an additional “sales tax” to gas purchases. Combined, the “federal, state, county, Chicago motor fuel and sales taxes” total $0.66 per gallon at today’s price. That leaves the “raw” price per gallon at $1.75.
These taxes don’t “show up” on your receipt, they’re “hidden” by being built into the “price per gallon” advertised along the roadways.
Even “worse,” unlike the motor fuel taxes, which are a “fixed” amount per gallon, the sales taxes are set as “percentage” rates.
And there are even more layers of “taxation” within a person’s gas bill. Here’s how Illinois’ “layers and layers” of gas taxation break down for a person “filling up” his or her tank in Chicago.
Taxes the “Regional Transportation Authority, county and city” levy add $0.16 per gallon to the price of gas “sold” in Chicago.
Illinois’ 6.25 percent “sales” tax adds $0.11 per gallon to the price of gasoline sold everywhere in the state, on “top” of federal and state environmental and motor fuel taxes.
Thus, drivers filling up at Chicago “pumps” face combined “federal, state, Regional Transportation Authority, county, Chicago motor fuel and sales taxes” of $0.66 per gallon at today’s prices.
And while “gas-tax dollars” in most states fund “roads and transportation” services, the revenue generated by “state sales taxes” goes to the state’s “general” fund.
That means Illinois is “pouring” gas-tax dollars into various government “spending,” including pensions.
I guess the government bureaucrats “deliberately and intentionally” hide these taxes, so the consumer will “blame” the evil oil companies for “high” prices.
It might not be as “fast” as a car, but it’s a way to avoid “high” gas prices and the additional “gas” taxes!
Illinois Policy Institute
Debunking the Myth That Only Drivers Pay for Roads
Why do you never see gasoline taxes itemized on your receipt?
