Chicago Taxes Its Way To the Highest Gas Prices

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

But don't blame the oil companies for singling out Chicago, says Dave Sykuta, of the Illinois Petroleum Council.

The real culprit is taxes.

While only nine states and the District of Columbia allow sales taxes on gasoline at all, "Illinois not only has a sales tax but it has the biggest one -- 5 percent," Sykuta said.

Illinois is also the only state that allows local taxing bodies to pile on. That means Chicago and the RTA get an additional 4 percent, bringing the sales tax in Chicago to 9 percent.

Then Chicago also grabs an additional 5 cents a gallon, and Cook County takes an additional 6 cents a gallon.

Add in the federal and state motor fuel taxes, which are earmarked to fund roads, and you get nearly 80 cents a gallon for taxes.

But it's the sales taxes that bring on the big hurt, according to Sykuta. Because they are a percentage, more taxes get paid as the price of gas goes up.

"We're the biggest tax collector outside of the IRS," Sykuta said of the service station industry.

Government greed in Chicago.