State tax dollars benefit downstate region more than others
Illinoisans living outside of Chicago and the collar counties receive a higher return on their state tax dollars – as much as $2.88 for every $1 paid – according to a recent study from Southern Illinois University’s (SIU) Paul Simon Institute.
SIU Public Administration Professor John Foster and John Jackson, a visiting professor with the institute, examined tax revenue and state expenditures by geographic regions based on budget data from fiscal years 2013-2016. During the Illinois Farm Bureau Board’s July meeting, the Illinois Government Committee was briefed on the professors’ report entitled “The Politics of Public Budgeting in Illinois.”
Jackson told FarmWeek he and Foster tested a regional perception they’d heard for decades “that we in southern Illinois get the short end of the (tax revenue) stick and support urban counties and Chicago.” That perception fueled recent outcomes in central and southern Illinois ballot initiatives, he noted.
Rather than receiving the lion’s share of state tax revenue, Cook County and the five collar counties contribute more to the state than the state spends in those counties in return, based on data from the bipartisan Commission on Forecasting and Government Accountability. In 2016, Cook County generated $12.43 billion; suburban counties, $8.5 billion; and downstate, $8.2 billion. In return, the state spent in Cook County, $12.18 billion; suburban counties, $5.1 billion; and downstate, $13.9 billion.
Read more at: https://www.farmweeknow.com/policy/state/state-tax-dollars-benefit-downstate-region-more-than-others/article_9207435a-ef0f-11eb-8280-ab69354d438c.html