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* Subscribers were briefed this morning on Sen. Ram Villivalam’s transit bill, which, unlike the House bill, included revenue sources. Crain’s Chicago Business…
Villivalam’s bill includes a 10% tax on rideshare trips originating from or ending in Chicago, Cook County and the five collar counties that make up the transit corridor. The city’s rideshare tax already hits all single-rider trips with a $1.13 fee and shared rides at a 53-cent clip, with additional surcharges based on the time and location of the trip.
A surcharge of up to 50 cents would be added to the rate motorists pay on the Illinois Tollway system within the metropolitan region in Villivalam’s version.
The bill would also extend an existing $1.50 per $500 surcharge on property sales in Chicago dedicated to the CTA in Cook County and the collar counties.
Despite early opposition from trade unions, the proposal would dedicate the interest earned on monies in the state’s so-called Road Fund to transit capital spending. The fund captures transportation-related taxes in a lock box and currently allocates 80% of its spending to highway and road projects and 20% to transit.
* WTTW…
The measure, filed late Wednesday night, features a new menu of revenue sources to help keep buses and trains running that include an electric vehicle charging station fee, a tollway surcharge and extending money rideshare fees and real estate transfer tax to the Cook County suburbs and collar counties.
It also calls for some of the interest earned on the state’s road fund to go toward transit capital projects, and bars Metra from its past practice of redirecting operating revenue toward capital efforts. The revenue plan also anticipates cost savings from overhauling transit governance, as outlined in the measure released Wednesday morning.
The measure also changes the current formulas used to distribute money among CTA, Metra and Pace. For the first three years, transit agencies will get a baseline amount of money equal to the public funding and COVID-19 relief funding in the 2025 budget, with additional cash based on passenger- and mileage-related metrics. After that, the baseline will continue and additional money will be based on new service standards.
* Subscribers were also told this morning about this harsh press release from DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy, a Democrat and former state legislator…
This plan plays Robin Hood…taxes DuPage and gives to unelected bureaucrats at the transit agencies.
The Senate “solution” is no solution at all. The Senate plan steals $72 million dollars in DuPage tax revenue, imposes a local real estate transfer tax with no oversight from the county, and taxes suburban commuters. If passed as written, DuPage County will be forced into massive layoffs, crippling our ability to provide safe streets and neighborhoods for our nearly 1 million residents. The Senate plan decimates our Sheriff’s patrols, State’s Attorneys, Public Defenders and Probation Officers. DuPage will have less ability to feed the hungry, provide services to families facing domestic violence and homelessness. Programs for our seniors and disabled residents would end.
Slashing RTA Sales Tax
• FY 2025 General Fund is $257.1
• RTA sales tax is $72 million
• If we raised the DuPage County property tax to the legal cap in 2024/collected in 2025, we would raise only an additional $3.5 million.
• We cannot raise taxes enough to replace this lost DuPage revenue. This is a cash grab from the suburbs, plain and simple.RETT
• Increases the tax on selling a home 6 fold in DuPage
• Would take an estimated $25.8 Million in revenue in DuPage County and give it to unelected bureaucrats at the transit agencies. (based on FY24 home sales)Tollway
• Would add $0.50 cents on all tolls.
• Shortchanges Infrastructure spending and puts people at risk.
• Takes money from suburban commuters to pay for a system they are not using.
*** UPDATE *** Frances Orenic of the Illinois AFL-CIO told the Senate Transportation Committee today that unions have “major concerns with the revenue proposals that are in there.” Mary Tyler, the Transportation Director for the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, also voiced concerns.
Marc Poulos with Operating Engineers Local 150 then put the proposal on blast. Excerpt…
We strongly oppose any transit governance reform legislation that lacks a dedicated and sustainable revenue source. Restructuring oversight without addressing funding issues is both irresponsible and counterproductive.
There is significant concern regarding proposals to impose a surcharge on Illinois toll roads to subsidize public transit. Tollway revenues are legally designed for Tollway related projects. Reallocating these funds would violate bond covenance, jeopardizing investor confidence and inviting legal challenges. This proposal is inequitable, as suburban drivers would effectively subsidize urban transit systems such as the CTA, in addition to tolls they already pay. It is unreasonable to expect public support for future toll increases, diverting current revenue for unrelated purposes. We advocate for comprehensive statewide transportation strategies focused on genuine investment, rather than mere governance rearrangement. This critique of utilizing Tollway funds for transit can be summarized as robbing Peter to pay Paul. These are concerns that a Tollway surcharge could deter drivers, ultimately diminishing funding for both roads and transit infrastructure. The surcharge would jeopardize public support for long term infrastructure initiatives, such as a 10 year Move Illinois capital program. We endorse increased investment of public transit to mitigate the impending fiscal cliff. Additionally, we oppose proposals that threaten the integrity of the toll system without offering a permanent solution.
I’ll just take a moment to just touch on a couple of the other potential revenue sources in here, and we are in opposition to those as well.
I’ll start with the first one, which is the sales tax diversion. So you have to understand at least a little bit of the history behind this. So roughly 17 years ago, we had a proposal here in Springfield to raise the sales tax that extended to the collar counties. That was, in fact, done. However, as part of that negotiation, there was not full hamstringing of that to be used just for transit. It was also able to be used for roads as well as public safety. There are a number of the collar counties that use it for just that and legally use it for that. Unfortunately, this, on day one, pulls the rug out from underneath them and undercuts their particular budget, which is a major concern of the five collar counties.
I’ll end with two other ones, the real estate transfer tax. We saw this as being a problematic proposition in the City of Chicago just last summer. We’re now offering that as a solution as well, but I will tell you that is not being offered as a solution for operations, which is our concern, that is being offered as a solution to transit oriented development.
I’ll go back to the Tollway. If you read the language in the bill, that is also dedicated for transit related development, not for operations, which is the impending fiscal cliff.
And I will close with the fact that we are also looking at a rideshare to pay for this as well. Albeit we don’t really have a particular position on whether or not that is good or not. But I think bringing the folks from rideshare into a room to figure out how that would work, whether there would be a preemption of current things at the local level or not, I think is probably a good idea.
We also appreciate the time spent by many over the last 18 months trying to solve this problem. But I just don’t think we’re there yet.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 11:55 am
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Transit directly benefits motorists. Transit reduces road congestion and air pollution and supports the regional economy. The notion that suburban drivers shouldn’t financially support a transit system they don’t “use” is wrong.
Comment by DS Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:08 pm
==Transit reduces road congestion==
On I-355?
Comment by City Zen Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:14 pm
Deb playing that political cover card pretty hard.
Comment by P. Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:20 pm
===If passed as written, DuPage County will be forced into massive layoffs, crippling our ability to provide safe streets and neighborhoods for our nearly 1 million residents. The Senate plan decimates our Sheriff’s patrols, State’s Attorneys, Public Defenders and Probation Officers. DuPage will have less ability to feed the hungry, provide services to families facing domestic violence and homelessness. Programs for our seniors and disabled residents would end.===
Sounds scary. But I’m confused. How does implementing new revenue sources for transit from DuPage residents result in the draconian cuts to existing DuPage services? The legislation is creating new taxes on top of taxes levied in DuPage to fund current services. It’s not like the legislation is taking $72 million or whatever out of DuPage County’s existing revenue pool.
I also understand the political need to be violently opposed to this plan in DuPage. But hyperbole and misstating the impact of what is being proposed, to me, fails the test of leadership. If the alternative is fewer trains and more crowding, is that the solution Conroy prefers?
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:25 pm
===draconian cuts to existing DuPage services?===
Because the bill redirects the existing quarter point sales tax to only transit, and forbids using it for public safety and roads/bridges. It doesn’t create a new sales tax.
Try reading more slowly.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:28 pm
Chicago and Cook County have a lower assessment rate the rest of the state. If the CTA wants more money, let them raise the assessment rate in Cook County. Tollway tolls should only be used for construction and repairs on the tollways. Hard NO on the transit bill in its present form.
Comment by Dupage Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:30 pm
“We strongly oppose any transit governance reform legislation that lacks a dedicated and sustainable revenue source.“
That, my friends, is the ballgame.
Comment by *ducks* Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:30 pm
For a moment we thought Capt Fax had climbed in the way back machine to quote DuPage GOPies on the early RTA …Pate Philip will be proud of the Conroy remarks
Comment by Annon'in Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:32 pm
Seems like the enviro NGOs have been given a lot of influence in drafting both the transit and energy bills. It’s not going well.
Comment by Ricky Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:34 pm
Seems kind of late in the legislative calendar to be having this discussion. This is a potential big time change for millions of people and it’s only now coming to light??
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:34 pm
Once again the collar counties are the cash cows of the state. What about the current RTA tax on gas is that going away or will it be expanded to other counties? And as was said gave Cook raise their assessment to what collar counties pay. And have Chicago pass a bond sometime for education. Deb is correct
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:35 pm
Conroy is fighting to not lose 72 million a year for DuPage residents. That makes her a champion for tax payers. Not sure what that has to do with Pate Phillips?
Comment by Blue Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:38 pm
Will this even be brought for a vote now? That is pretty substantial opposition.
Comment by low level Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:38 pm
===That is pretty substantial opposition===
Yep.
It just doesn’t make sense. The funding portion absolutely relies on suburban Democratic votes. And lots of folks aren’t gonna risk their AFL-CIO ratings.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:41 pm
===Try reading more slowly.===
Always good advice. It would help me read at a slower pace if they’d put this out more than two days before adjournment.
Poulos’ history lesson also helps. Hadn’t seen that before I hit the “say it” button.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:42 pm
By refusing to do their duty and creating a revenue source for transit, lawmakers are robbing the suburbs of existing funds and forcing them to cut services. Every lawmaker that votes for this will lose re-election.
Comment by Overtaxed and Overwhelmed Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 12:48 pm
Cook County needs to go thru all state expenditures to make sure that none of the money goes to “unelected bureaucrats” in DuPage County. Roads, Forest Preserves, etc.
Comment by Jerry Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:03 pm
Deb, please refund to Cook County those vehicles who do not use the DuPage County portion of the roads. And can we cut off Lake Michigan water since you are mooching off that too.
Comment by Jerry Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:06 pm
150’s statement seems to be more aligned with the highway lobby than other unions (i.e., ATU) more directly involved in transit.
Towards the end: “And I will close with the fact that we are also looking at a rideshare to pay for this as well. Albeit we don’t really have a particular position on whether or not that is good or not.”
You’d think a labor union would be all for pricing “gig economy” services to the point of being uncompetitive, but they are “not certain?” This is all about keeping pavement contracts going, and higher tolls makes them nervous.
Comment by Scooter Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:07 pm
===150’s statement===
The more ominous statement is from the Illinois AFL-CIO.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:13 pm
Using automobiles as a primary method of passenger transit in the Chicagoland metro region needs to become more expensive which can both fund and encourage increased use of public transit options.
Elsewhere, congestion pricing has helped.
Require some form of vehicle sticker (i-Pass tag?) to drive a passenger vehicle in (or into) Cook County, regardless of where the vehicle is owned or garaged. License plate scanners can confirm whether a particular car has registered and paid the required fees.
If a DuPage/Kane/Lake/Will driver doesn’t want to pay a fee to drive his/her car in Cook County, take the train.
Comment by It's really very simple Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:16 pm
==This is all about keeping pavement contracts going==
Bingo. Local 150 isn’t concerned about transit unless they’re building new tracks.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:17 pm
@Dupage: Chicago and Cook have lower assessment rates but a higher multiplier; it nets to no difference.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:24 pm
=This plan plays Robin Hood=
Pretty sure that guy is seen as the hero in the story, but it has been a while since I have listened to Bryan Adams while shooting a bow and arrow /s
Comment by Rounding Numbers and Bases Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:27 pm
Watching this consolidation push seemingly go sideways now after 13 months of various road show hearings is honestly kind of fascinating.
Whatever I personally think of the NITA bill it is pretty surprising at least one or two bigger Unions didn’t get something to at least be neutral on the package.
Comment by ChicagoBars Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:31 pm
“The more ominous statement is from the Illinois AFL-CIO.”
Point noted.
I am suspicious that the AFL-CIO’s concerns are derived from the current lack of parity among transit bargaining units in identical crafts. Most notable one is probably bus operations; CTA has one contract with ATU local 241 for all personnel in bus ops. Pace, however, has ten operating divisions; each has its own contract with a variety of unions (different flavors of ATU, Teamsters, etc). Benefits and pay vary by contract, with some getting no pension, but in all cases, wages are less than CTA’s.
So if I were a Pace employee in one of those ten bargaining units I’d probably be in favor of consolidation because it could force pay parity. But if I were in union leadership? Maybe not.
Comment by Scooter Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:31 pm
Where’s Julie Hamos when we need her?
Comment by Matty Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:51 pm
Has anyone asked Conroy why a 0.75% RTA sales tax that is intended to be used for transportation projects is being used in DuPage County’s General Fund for operations instead?
Comment by Smalls Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 1:56 pm
It sounds like the CTA should start planning cuts.
Comment by Chicagonk Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 2:01 pm
Note the “If we raised the DuPage County property tax to the legal cap” embedded in Conroy’s press release.
The DuPage County board has spent decades bragging about keeping the county’s tax levy flat or near-flat. Had the county been exercising its full legal taxing authority during those years, the compounding effect of annual increases would leave the county’s general fund budget in a very different place today. Instead, the county has made the deliberate policy choice to devote RTA sales tax money to non-transit operations, rather than have DuPage County property owners provide for their “public safety” out of their own property tax dollars.
Comment by Protocol Droid Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 2:19 pm
Classic case of flushing out the noise, and forcing a hard look at the tough choices. Transit Unions v Trades. Broad-based taxes vs. user fees. Hamos had to cut the deal at AFL CIO HQ, if I recall.
Comment by Phineas Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 2:21 pm
CTA has the broadest operational responsibilities of all the transit agencies and that is reflected in the number of employees (10,000+) 94% which are unionized. CTA employs the largest number or percentage of African-Americans and Latinos in the entire state, close to 70%. If there is no new revenue and layoffs do indeed happen, it will disproportionately hit CTA the hardest. I presume the minority caucus in both the House and the Senate are aware of this. I can’t imagine they are going to just sit back and let this happen.
Comment by Teve Demotte Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 2:34 pm
The CTA used to charge me $105 for a monthly pass.
It was cut to $75 / month during COVID.
Why don’t they just raise the prices back to pre-COVID levels?
Comment by Flax Seed Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 3:09 pm
@it’s really very simple: ===If a DuPage/Kane/Lake/Will driver doesn’t want to pay a fee to drive his/her car in Cook County, take the train.==
Might want to check a map and the availability of trainlines in those counties. Then, check a map of where they all want to go in Cook County. You’re going to find it’s not really very simple after all. Few things in governance are - but when we try to make them that way, we inevitably show our ignorance of the complexities involved.
Collar county residents are going to have to pay more to help fix the system. No one denies that. But the board structure that essentially gives Chicago / Cook full control of a consolidated system is unacceptable when paired with the substantial price increases that will fall solely on suburban shoulders. They clearly kept this proposal secret until moments before the hearing because they knew how completely terrible it is. That’s anti-democratic in itself and Senate leaders should be ashamed of trying to hide it from the public and their own members.
Comment by Not Your Gramma Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 4:19 pm
=== the deliberate policy choice to devote RTA sales tax money to non-transit operations===
Nope. Those spending decisions were specifically allowed under state law.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 4:41 pm
The basic problem here is the Senator Ram Villivalam represents CHICAGO and the biggest problem with fiscal responsibility has been CTA. Those Suburban and Downstate legislators aren’t going to put themselves in a position to bailout what’s perceived as another Chicago problem. And after reading today’s SunTimes about employees at CTA being paid to stay home for the last 2-3 years at a cost of $1,000,000 this is a hard sell right now. Add in 150 and AFL/CIO not happy this is a long way off from being done
Comment by Long Time Independent Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 5:03 pm
Protocol Droid, AKA Adam Johnson. HB 656 clearly states that RTA sales tax can be used for transportation or public safety. The bill was passed in 2008. Feel free to use all your free time to look it up.
Facts actually matter. Interesting to hear you advocate for increasing property tax in DuPage.
Comment by Blue Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 5:21 pm
==Jerry @ 1:06 pm:And can we cut off Lake Michigan water since you are mooching off that too==
Huh? DuPage pays the *exact* same as a Chicago resident does and is 30% of the annual revenue the city receives for water from suburban customers.
Comment by jimbo Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 5:24 pm
Stealing from the Tollway should be a non-starter. I don’t think it would pass legal muster to raise tolls and divert money from the tollway to use for mass transit.
Politically, it is suicide. The Republicans will have a field day.
And why in the world complicate things further by bringing the tollway authority into the room?
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 5:36 pm
I am against any cost increase for electric vehicles which is not paired with a similar or larger cost increase on fossil fueled vehicles. We need to maintain parity in pushing people to adopt and use more efficient and less polluting electric vehicles.
Comment by Odysseus Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 6:24 pm
re “@Dupage: Chicago and Cook have lower assessment rates but a higher multiplier; it nets to no difference.”
Untrue, even after the Cook County multiplier, Cook County homeowners are not assessed at the same level as homeowners in the rest of Illinois.
Comment by cal sknner Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 6:54 pm
History on two issues:
Suburban sales tax for transit: There has always been a .25% sales tax in the collar counties for transit. P.A. 95-708 (the last transit bill) increased that to .75%, which half of the increase (or .25%) to go to the county board to use for transportation. Towards the end of that bill making its way through the process DuPage County had a budget problem with their county jail, so the reluctant agreement was to allow it to also be used for “public safety” which then brought then Senator Dillard to vote for the bill, which was a crucial vote that was needed. It didn’t take too long for all the collar counties to use that money for “public safety” which then freed up money for other needs.
Tolls for Transit: Chicago politicians have long pointed out that New York City bridge tolls support the New York City transit. However, they conveniently leave out that the governing body that manages those bridges is the same as the transit, and there is definitely overlap for jurisdiction and constituencies. I’m not sure you can make the same argument in Chicago since tolls are primarily used by surbanities who don’t have transit options for their suburb-to-surburb commute, and transit is primarily used by people who live in Chicago or are going to Chicago. Using tolls for transit here is definitely the suburbs supporting the City.
Comment by Just Me 2 Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 6:58 pm
@it’s really very simple: ===If a DuPage/Kane/Lake/Will driver doesn’t want to pay a fee to drive his/her car in Cook County, take the train.==
It will be tough to get to 60-30 without the collar counties.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 7:33 pm
“I am against any cost increase for electric vehicles which is not paired with a similar or larger cost increase on fossil fueled vehicles.”
Electric vehicles do not pay any motor fuel taxes. They pay an additional $100 on their license plate registration, of which $99 goes into the Road Fund in lieu of paying MFT.
Effective 7/1, the MFT will be $0.483/gallon. In other words, the electric cars are paying MFT for 205 gallons of gas.
I think I have used that much gas already this year.
Electric vehicles are getting off very easy when it comes to a road user tax such as MFT.
Comment by Huh? Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 8:07 pm
Tax the Parking Meter Deal and fix transit funding.
Tax downtown parking spots and fix the state budget.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 8:15 pm
increasing the fares and getting rid of the costly red line extension would be a good starting point for the cta.
everyone is going to have to pay more and see some cuts. us city dwellers will need to feel it too.
Comment by bcube Thursday, May 29, 25 @ 8:55 pm