Town hall meeting in Collinsville to discuss passage of ‘fair tax’ structure in Illinois

A town hall meeting to discuss Fair Tax Now — a campaign to shift Illinois’ tax from a flat tax to a graduated tax — will take place Saturday, April 21.

The event is set from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Collinsville Area Recreation District Meeting Room, 10 Gateway Plaza in Collinsville.

The event is hosted by the Responsible Budget Coalition and is open to the public. Area residents are invited to attend to learn more about how changing the Illinois income tax structure could produce billions of revenue that would help fix the state’s budget crisis.

The first goal of the campaign is to secure a constitutional amendment that would allow the public to vote to adjust the state income tax rate structure from a flat tax to a graduated tax.

The deadline to pass an amendment in time for the November ballot is May 9. Illinois is one of only eight states in the U.S. that has a flat tax and is one of only four states that constitutionally requires a flat income tax. The federal government and 33 other states, including Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin, have a fair or graduated tax structure.

The coalitoin maintains that a proposed graduated rate structure would give an income tax cut to 99 percent of Illinoisans while raising an additional $2 billion in revenue for the state. The rates for Illinois would be equal to or less than surrounding states.

The town hall meeting is to educate area residents on the benefits of Illinois shifting to a Fair Income Tax. The coalition says the Fair Income Tax will give lower rates for people with lower incomes and higher rates for people with higher incomes, resulting in tax relief for 80-90 percent of Illinois taxpayers while raising vital new revenue to fund area schools, infrastructure, higher education, and human services. The town hall will include a presentation on the Fair Tax policy, testimony from different local residents affected by the state budget, and a call to action.

The Responsible Budget Coalition is a group of 300-plus organizations from across the state fighting for a fully funded budget with new revenue that invests in Illinois children, families and communities. It includes organizations that serve children, families, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities; education groups concerned about early learning, K-12 and higher education; labor unions; faith-based and civic organizations; immigrant and refugee families; and many others.

The RBC recently launched the Fair Tax Now campaign to create awareness around what it calls the need to put a fair tax on the ballot for 2018. Visit www.FairTaxNowIL.com