Lake County Gazette

Stewart Kerr isn’t sure how he feels about Senate Bill 9, but he knows Lake County's small businesses need help to survive.

“We’re all conscious of and concerned about all the businesses that are moving across the border to places like Wisconsin,” the executive director of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce told the Lake County Gazette. “All the uncertainty from having no budget for two years has only made the situation more tenuous.”

Senate Bill 9 would increase personal state income taxes to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and corporate taxes to 7 percent from 5.25 percent. It is part of the Senate's grand bargain budget, which means all other measures in the budget have to pass for SB9 to take effect.

Stewart Kerr

“The board is now discussing where we formally stand on this,” Kerr said. “We haven’t seen anything done on the tax front since 2015, and with all the uncertainty and having no numbers to go on, it’s very difficult for businesses to plan for anything. Ideally, we’d see a long-term comprehensive plan put in place, but until that time we’re trying to hold on anyway we can.”

Passed with no Republican support but the Democratic approval of Sens. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) and Terry Link (D-Waukegan), the bill would also slap a sales tax on previously untaxed industries, including dry cleaning and storage.

The measure is expected to generate approximately $5.4 billion of the record-setting $37.4 billion budget that also recently passed the Senate.

The Illinois Policy Institute projects that the budget will leave every Illinois household on the hook for an additional $1,125 in taxes, on average.