The pandemic had an upside for Illinois state finances – infusing federal dollars as state revenues exceeded projections. Now federal aid is gone. Illinoisans’ ongoing struggles warrant caution, reform in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.

Illinois businesses pay the nation’s second-highest corporate income tax rates. Chicago is considering taxing them more.

The current owners Kevin McCallister’s house from “Home Alone” will pay more than $50,000 in property taxes this year. Illinoisans pay the second-highest property taxes in the nation on average.

Fifty-eight percent of Illinois voters polled said their property taxes don’t provide enough value in public services. Illinoisans pay the second-highest property taxes in the nation.

Illinoisans bet more than $275 million on March Madness in 2022, with the state netting more than $2 million in tax revenue. Revenue totals for sports betting in 2022 were the second highest in the nation behind New York.