McHenry Times

Illinois state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) is committed to making his time in Springfield all about the Illinois taxpayer.

“I did not vote for them," Ugaste told the McHenry Times of the $2.1 billion in added taxes and new fees that kicked in on July 1 as part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $85 billion overall state budget. "I believe that the tax increases were just too much for the people of our state to take. While I do believe in the plan for the gas tax because it goes into a lock box that is the appropriate way to fund that portion of a capital bill, I also believe if we were going to do that we needed to offset that tax increase by an equal amount with a tax decrease for the taxpayers of Illinois because we’re already one of the highest-taxed states in the country.”

Among the new taxes and added fees to take hold on July 1 were the doubling of the state gas to 38 cents per gallon, a $1-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes and a three-fold increase in the real estate transfer tax for non-Illinois residents.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

“I was a fan of the capital bill,” Ugaste said. “I just believe there were better ways to pay for it than the way it was done. Just the tax increases is no way to get us where we need to be. I would say we’re going to lose more population because of another tax increase when nothing has been done to lower taxes in other regards.”

Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, Ugaste’s 65th House District includes all or parts of Batavia, Elgin, Geneva, Hampshire, South Elgin and St. Charles.