Sandack Says Illinois Should Keep Flat Income Tax

Sen. Ron Sandack calls the state's graduated income tax proposal a "tax on the middle class" that could hike tax bills for 85 percent of Illinoisans.

The Downers Grove Republican, in an op-ed posted Wednesday, April 17, on Reboot Illinois, Sandack takes aim at the last income tax hike and the proposed graduated income tax, writing:

Apparently, the over $7 billion in additional revenue collected each year from the previous tax hike wasn’t enough to sustain the insatiable spending appetite, because the Democrats in charge of Springfield now want even more money by taxing the success of Illinois working families.

While the supporters of HJRCA 2 like to refer to the proposal as "tax reform," make no mistake that this a tax hike on a majority of Illinois residents.  By some estimates, 85% of taxpayers could see their tax bills rise. Because of the way this particular measure is written, taxpayers would be asked to vote on a proposal that does not outline specific tax brackets with corresponding tax rates for various incomes.  Illinoisans at nearly all income levels theoretically could be levied higher rates under this measure because it would be legislators, not the public, who approve the final tax rates.  

We could likely end up with a similar situation as we did during the 2010-2011 tax hike debate.  If you recall, Governor Quinn promised not to raise income taxes more than 1% on Illinois families, only to sign a tax hike double that amount a few short months later.  Similar tactics could be employed by supporters who tend to label this measure as a “tax on the wealthy,” when in reality it will more likely be a "tax on the middle class."

Abandoning the flat tax would also drive more business out of Illinois, Sandack believes.

Read more from Sandack's piece on RebootIllinois.com.

Patch users throughout the Chicago area have engaged in a spirited discussion in recent days on the value of the graduated income tax vs. the current flat tax now.