Boone County officials warned state bill will shift motor-fuel revenue to Chicago-area transit, potentially reducing road funds
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Summary
County highway staff briefed the board on Senate Bill 2111, a pending state measure that redirects motor-fuel sales tax and road-fund interest to transit and increases some tolls; county staff said the changes could reduce local road discretionary funding and shift a larger share of transit funding to the Chicago region.
Justin Kron, Boone County engineer, told the Board of Trustees at its Nov. 6 Committee of the Whole that Senate Bill 2111, which at the time of the meeting had passed the legislature but not yet been signed by the governor, redirects multiple revenue streams toward transit and makes structural changes to regional transit authority funding.
"The road fund is generated through more fuel tax primarily," Kron said, explaining the bill moves the sales-tax portion of motor fuel receipts (previously directed to the road fund) toward transit, a change he estimated at about $8.86 billion annually in statewide impact. He said the bill also directs roughly $200 million of road-fund interest to transit and increases a six-county RTA occupational sales tax by 0.25 percentage point (about $470 million), bringing the total redirected annually to a figure he described as "just over $1.5 billion." Kron said about 85% of the redirected funds would be allocated to the RTA in the Chicago region, with the remainder going to the rest of the state.
Kron said the measure includes additional toll authority provisions: a 45-cent increase for passenger vehicles, a larger percentage increase for commercial vehicles (he said about 30%), and an every-other-year adjustment up to about 4% per year thereafter. Kron also said the bill renames the Regional Transportation Authority to a Northern Illinois Transit Authority and contains language that requires agencies to invest in transit as part of capital improvement programs.
Board members voiced concern that downstate counties like Boone would effectively subsidize transit projects concentrated in Chicago and the Collar Counties. "In layman's terms ... the area outside Chicago will be funding more of the transit," said one member during discussion, and another cautioned the reallocation may reduce funds available for local bridge and roadway projects, which rely on allocations from the state road fund and discretionary grants.
Board members asked staff to continue monitoring the bill's final form and to advise on potential impacts to local project funding and maintenance programs. Kron said some District 1 MFT structures are not affected by the bill because of local funding mechanisms, but the net effect would mean downstate taxpayers bear a greater share of transit funding under the new structure.
The board took no formal vote on the bill itself; Kron recommended further coordination with state representatives and told members to contact their legislators if they wished to express concerns.