Rockford mayor: Illinois 'stole' $123M from the city, and he wants it back

Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star
·2 min read
54

Mayor Tom McNamara renewed his call for Illinois to return what he called "stolen" income tax dollars to the people of Rockford.

Under a 1969 agreement, 10 percent of residents' income taxes was to return to the municipalities in which they lived, McNamara said. That changed in 2011 when the state began cutting back on how much income tax dollars paid by residents was returned to their home cities as part of what is called the Local Government Distributive Fund.

"These are our income tax dollars we are fighting to bring back to our community," McNamara said during a news briefing. "In my opinion, the state has stolen those dollars."

McNamara said Rockford has been shorted $123 million from its share of income taxes paid by its residents.

The mayor's view: It's time to restore the Local Government Distributive Fund back to 10%

He urged state legislators to "fully restore" the funding source as part of the next budget.

The FY 2024 budget approved by the House early Saturday includes north of $112 million toward repayment. It increases the share local governments receive from the state's total income tax revenue from 6.16% to 6.47% — far from the 10% requested.

The Local Government Distributive Fund returns a portion of income taxes to municipalities on a per capita basis. Since 2011, the percentage distributed to Illinois cities was reduced under previous administrations to about 6% from 10%.

"This is about priorities and fulfilling a promise in an agreement that was made with municipalities and, more importantly, residents who make up those municipalities," McNamara said. "We obviously provide far more services and far more direct services than the state does. Those dollars need to come to municipalities so that we can continue to provide critical core services."

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford mayor: Illinois should return $123M 'stolen' income tax funds