PARIS, IL. (ECWd) –
Paris District 95 School Board, voted last night to place the question of a 1% sales tax referendum on the ballot this November. They joined what has been reported as Shiloh and Chrisman School Districts’ willingness to make you pay.
Knowing the taxpayers of the District recently passed a bond referendum to build the new high school, greatly increasing their tax burdens, the District decided to try and take even more money from us, even when the promise at the time was “no raising of [real estate] taxes” – which appears to have been a smoke-screen to this new tax.
This 1% tax is a tax on the poor and elderly, touted as something that “everyone” pays, but it is nothing more than an unreasonable tax on the poor and elderly in this community, who typically shop locally.
At its core, the County School Facility Tax (CSFT) is a NEW TAX. A new sales tax, more precisely. And Illinois already has roughly 450 sales tax jurisdictions, while our (Edgar County’s) neighbor, Indiana, has only one; the state. Illinois also has some of the highest combined state and local sales tax rates in the nation.
Once implemented, the CSFT is impossible to eliminate. And, while it’s currently capped at 1%, a movement is afoot in Springfield to double that rate. And, it can be implemented at quarter-percent increments with a maximum rate of 1%. Why are they talking about imposing the maximum rate immediately?
The notion that out-of-towners will bear the brunt of this is a total canard. How much of your shopping is done out of the county? 100% of local folks will pay this. A small percentage of the revenue would come from the out-of-towners, meaning Edgar County residents would pay the brunt of this tax, and more-so for the poor and elderly who typically shop locally.
Local politicians want to create a new tax.
Don’t be fooled into thinking it can be easily eliminated or that they will only spend what comes in. Other school districts who have approved this tax have immediately sold bonds in anticipation of receipt of tax money, which means all of it doesn’t go where intended, but instead goes to paying interest. The banks win, not the taxpayers.
Paris District 95 School Board members are: Steve Eitel, John Sanchez, William “Beetle” Bailey, Amy Isaf, Kevin Knoepfel, Cindy Mathis, and Tom Tuttle.
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