A new report from Can the Tax and the Illinois Food Retailers Association shows that beverage sales for Cook County retailers are down since 2016.

Illinois state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, joins state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, in supporting an increase in the state’s gas tax.

Cook County’s penny-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax has led to another lawsuit alleging a restaurant applied the tax incorrectly.

Illinoisans already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, including high taxes at the pump.

A We Ask America poll shows 87.5 percent of respondents think Cook County commissioners support the sweetened beverage tax for reasons other than health.

Recent polls show Cook County officials could face electoral backlash for supporting the soda tax.

A new property tax hike worth as much as $148 million is set to hit Chicagoans as part of the latest school funding proposal. That’s on top of the record-breaking property tax hikes Mayor Rahm Emanuel approved in 2015 and a litany of other city and county taxes and fees.

Median pay for city workers was nearly $93,000 in 2016.

In the wake of the city’s 2018 preliminary budget report, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is playing it close to the vest about whether to raise taxes.