This letter was submitted by Charleston resident Ellen Wolcott.

Current students may not realize this, but the amount of state money that has gone into funding higher education has dropped by more than half (taking inflation into account) from 2002 to 2018.  What this means is that students are paying more in tuition to make up for this. 

The state of Illinois clearly needs more revenue to help fund its public schools.  Unfortunately, Illinois is one of the few remaining states that has a flat rate income tax, meaning everyone is taxed at the same rate. 

If all taxes such as sales taxes, property taxes, and gasoline taxes are taken into account along with the state income tax, the people in the lower income brackets spend a significantly higher percentage of their income on taxes than the very rich.  That’s just not fair.  A graduated income tax adjusts the tax rate depending on one’s income.

The proposed amendment to the Illinois constitution will allow the state to change the flat rate to a graduated rate.

Should it pass, initial tax rates have already been signed by the governor so that people making more than $250,000 in taxable income will see an increase in their taxes.  Everyone else will see a decrease.  That extra revenue from the rich will allow Illinois to better fund important programs such as education.

Vote Yes for the Fair Tax!

Ellen Wolcott can be reached at [email protected].