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Champaign News-Gazette: Tax numbers enliven debate
New facts will add substance to the discussion of the tax-fairness issue.
With the federal income tax return filings deadline looming (April 17) and ongoing debate about the need for Illinois to shift from a flat income tax to a progressive one, it’s a good time to discuss who’s got what and how much they pay.
In other words, do the “millionaire and billionaire” populist politicians like to denounce not paying less than their “fair share”? Or more than their fair share?
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois uses our taxes to tax the sales tax taxers. How taxing.
The Illinois Department of Revenue exists to collect taxes. It operates on a $909 million budget that comes from our taxes.
But it was able to convince state lawmakers that it wasn’t getting enough money to administer all the special tax rates imposed by local governments or local taxpayers for special purposes. Flood control, mass transit, special economic development districts financed by something above the base sales tax rate of 6.25 percent presented a burden for the revenuers.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner says he'll prioritize a budget agreement with Democrats, which has eluded him so far
With lawmakers resuming their legislative session after a postelection hiatus, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday said his top priority was a full-year budget — a feat the Republican governor and Democrat-controlled General Assembly have not accomplished together since he took office in 2015.
Rauner called a Thursday meeting of the four legislative leaders from both parties, the first since he survived a bruising primary battle that showed a deep divide among Republicans. And he ticked off a list of other goals for the coming months that he said were “really bipartisan or nonpartisan” and “not about Republicans or Democrats.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Asked about CPS cheating to pass cleaning audits, Rahm vows ‘a solution to this’
Mayor Rahm Emanuel — who was “beyond outraged” last month about revelations of unsanitary conditions found inside many Chicago Public Schools — said Monday he has spoken with schools CEO Janice Jackson, and “I have all the confidence you’ll see a solution to this.”
Asked Monday about a follow-up report Sunday in the Chicago Sun-Times that cited janitors saying cheating helped schools pass outside audits of their cleanliness, Emanuel didn’t answer directly but said he again spoke with Jackson on Sunday about the dirty schools.
Northwest Herald: State Rep. David McSweeney's bill could give townships power to push elimination referendum
A proposed bill sponsored by state Rep. David McSweeney that could give township boards in McHenry County the power to put a consolidation referendum on an election ballot with a majority vote passed committee Monday in Springfield and now will go to the House floor.
The Barrington Hills Republican said House Bill 4637 would make the path to consolidation easier.
Daily Herald: Planning agency sees more tolls, fees in drivers' future
Expanding tolls, taxing miles driven rather than gas purchases, and charging regional fees on vehicle registration are among the ideas to fund roads and transit in the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s latest vision for the future.
Agency officials discussed transportation highlights of the “On To 2050” draft plan Monday. The document is intended to guide growth and development in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in the coming decades.
Daily Herald: DuPage election officials to take legal action against election vendor
The DuPage Election Commission plans to take legal action against one of its vendors for the error that caused election results to be delayed for hours during last month’s primary.
County election officials say the vendor, Liberty Systems LLC, made a mistake when it provided the wrong ballot-like cards needed to close DuPage’s optical scan voting machines. Officials discovered the ender cards were too thick to run through the voting machines that read paper ballots — but not until after the polls closed on March 20.
Daily Herald: Mundelein board delays plan to buy gateway signs
Mundelein trustees on Monday argued about a plan to purchase new gateway signs for the village and then ultimately delayed a decision.
The village board had been set to approve a $122,590 contract with a Sugar Grove company called Quantum Sign Corp. to build and install two gateway signs on the village’s south side and an electronic message board outside the police station at 221 N. Lake St.
Rockford Register-Star: Without home rule, Rockford to lobby for legislative fixes
Thwarted by voters who rejected home rule, Rockford City Council will be forced to take a much more difficult approach and lobby the Illinois General Assembly to accomplish its agenda.
Aldermen on the Legislative Lobbying Committee on Monday agreed to forward to the City Council a legislative lobbying agenda that mirrors many of the initiatives officials had hoped to implement using home rule powers.
State Journal-Register: Rochester water decision delayed; CWLP offers lower rate
The village of Rochester decided to hold off on making a decision on its water supplier Monday so that officials can spend the next week negotiating with Springfield’s City Water, Light and Power.
The decision came during a standing-room-only meeting where some people spoke out against a plan to drop CWLP as the village’s water supplier and go with a co-op. There were people in the crowd who supported the switch, saying it would allow the village to invest in needed infrastructure improvement.