Quinn Budget Makes Tax Hike Permanent
From the Chicago Tribune
Gov. Pat Quinn has prepared an election-year spending proposal that would make permanent the 67 percent income tax increase set to expire in 2015 and couple it with property tax relief for homeowners, sources familiar with the plan said Tuesday.
Quinn planned to tell lawmakers in his Wednesday budget address that the temporary tax increase he signed into law in 2011 is needed to fund education, said one of the sources who was briefed on his plan but not authorized to reveal the details in advance of the noon speech.
The property tax relief would take the form of a $500 refund, sources said. One source said it would be an annual refund as part of a restructuring of the current property tax break for income tax filers.
Quinn was also expected to tell lawmakers that the alternative is to drop the 5 percent income tax rate to 3.75 as scheduled on Jan. 1, but that would make state programs unsustainable, sources said.
Budget speeches are political by nature, but Quinn's address has become fodder for the heated 2014 campaign before he's even delivered it.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
Gov. Pat Quinn has prepared an election-year spending proposal that would make permanent the 67 percent income tax increase set to expire in 2015 and couple it with property tax relief for homeowners, sources familiar with the plan said Tuesday.
Quinn planned to tell lawmakers in his Wednesday budget address that the temporary tax increase he signed into law in 2011 is needed to fund education, said one of the sources who was briefed on his plan but not authorized to reveal the details in advance of the noon speech.
The property tax relief would take the form of a $500 refund, sources said. One source said it would be an annual refund as part of a restructuring of the current property tax break for income tax filers.
Quinn was also expected to tell lawmakers that the alternative is to drop the 5 percent income tax rate to 3.75 as scheduled on Jan. 1, but that would make state programs unsustainable, sources said.
Budget speeches are political by nature, but Quinn's address has become fodder for the heated 2014 campaign before he's even delivered it.
Read more in our daily News Update...