MOLINE, Ill. — The Illinois gas tax increase is set to resume on Jan. 1, 2023.
The annual increase, first established in 2019, was frozen earlier this year by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker because of rising inflation and high fuel prices nationwide. It's set to unfreeze at the end of this month.
The yearly increase was first established when Gov. Pritzker signed the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan in 2019, setting tax increases on a variety of goods to help fund infrastructure improvements and education costs.
When the bill was initially signed, the gas tax immediately doubled from 19 cents per gallon to 38 cents per gallon. Then, every July 1, the gas tax increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, from before March of that year. However, it cannot increase more than the previous year's rate plus one cent.
The current rate as of Dec. 2022 is 39.2 cents per gallon. That number will increase to 42.3 cents per gallon come January and then increase again based on the CPI in the summer.
Some Illinois residents aren't happy with the gas tax resuming.
"I feel like the prices are high enough as it is," East Moline resident Anthony Rangel said.
"I don't know if it's justified," Aledo resident Alexandra Bennett said. "I feel like there are other ways we can go about it. I have children, so improving early learning centers is a wonderful cause but taking it to the extreme that it already is, it's already high so going higher is gonna be tough."
More From News 8
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel