Dear Members:
The November 3 Presidential Election not only will decide which candidate resides in the White House for the next four years, but which party will control the majority in the United States Senate and if Illinois residents will opt for a progressive or graduated income tax rate over our state’s current flat rate.
Early voting (as evidenced locally by the unusually long lines outside Elmhurst City Hall) and mailed-in ballots are at record highs of some 93 million and counting—more than 70 percent of all the Presidential vote total cast back in 2016.
If you have already voted, congratulations on exercising your Constitutional right and privilege as an American. If not already “I voted” stickered, I hope to see you at the polls on Tuesday.
Fair Tax Amendment Opposition
The Board of Directors of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce at its October 12 meeting voted to endorse the Illinois Chamber of Commerce’s opposition to the Graduated Income Tax Amendment, or “Fair Tax,” to the State of Illinois Constitution on the November 3 Presidential Election ballot. Directors voted without dissent (with four abstentions) based on a recommendation from the Governmental Affairs Committee, one of the Board’s four Standing Committees.
“Fair Tax” proponents favor those who earn more to pay more (or their fair share), while opponents—the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Policy Institute, business associations and others—fear that the amendment will hand legislators a “blank check” on income tax hikes for all residents down the road.
While Illinois certainly is in desperate need of additional revenue to address a nearly $7 billion budget funding deficit, this amendment clears the way for state lawmakers with a long history of fiscal mismanagement to hike the tax rate on any group of income taxpayers limited only by their own legislative discretion.
The Fair Tax is projected to generate an additional $3.6 billion from individuals and $350 million from businesses—still leaving Illinois with a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall. As proposed, taxpayers earning more than $250,000 annually will pay the higher rates of 7.75 percent, 7.85 percent ($350,000) and 7.99 percent ($1 million), while an estimated 97 percent of residents will pay 4.95 percent or even less. The corporate income tax rate will increase to 7.99 percent, up from seven percent (not counting a 2.5 percent replacement tax), impacting an estimated 100,000 small businesses.
Under Illinois’ current flat rate of 4.95 percent, individuals who earn more income are already paying more in income taxes. While among only nine states with a flat income tax rate, Illinois ranks lower than bordering states Iowa (8.5 percent), Wisconsin (7.6 percent), Missouri (5.4 percent) and Kentucky (5 percent), with only Indiana (3.23 percent) lower, and compares favorably among 43 states that levy individual income taxes.
Since 1969—when an income tax (then only 2.5 percent) was first instituted in 1969—Illinois’s Constitution has mandated that any income tax must be imposed at a single rate for all individual taxpayers, regardless of their level of income. Over the past 51 years, the income tax rate as ranged from as low as two percent to as high as five percent.
Illinoisans currently pay the nation’s second-highest property taxes (New Jersey ranks No. 1) at $2,400 for every $100,000 in home value and the average state and local sales tax burden in Illinois is 8.78 percent, according to a study by Kiplinger, a financial forecasting service.
The amendment will need either the approval of 60 percent of voters voting on the question, or greater than 50 percent approval from all voters who cast election ballots.
Click HERE to view Graduated Tax Town Hall meeting featuring Ralph Martire, President of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and former State of Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger, as co-hosted by the Highland Park Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Advocacy Council (SBAC) and Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (IACCE).
Business Interruption Grants
In late September, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s (IDECO) opened Phase 2 of its Business Interruption Grant (BIG) Program, with Accion serving as IDCEO’s grant administration partner. Click on the grant link above for information
covering an Overview, Heavily Impacted Industries, Eligibility Factors and Key Priorities, Outreach and Technical Assistance, Timeline and Application.
Funded through our state’s allotment of the federal $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Stability (CARES) Act, BIG Round 2 has $200 million in funding available for small businesses that experienced losses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Some 2,800 businesses received $49 million in grants in Round 1, which focused on restaurants, personal care services, gyms, fitness clubs and businesses in severely and disproportionately impacted areas.
2021 Elmhurst Community Directory
Our Chamber has again contracted with the Elmhurst Suburban Life/Shaw Media to produce the 2021 Elmhurst Community Directory, with some 19,200 copies Every Door Direct Mail delivered to every resident, business and Post Office Box address in Elmhurst next January. Some 60 percent of display advertising space is already booked. Click HERE to book your display advertising space online or contact Bill Korbel by phone at (630-427-6230) or e-mail at bkorbel@shawmedia.com.
Happy Anniversary
Four members are celebrating Chamber anniversaries in November as follows: 20 years—Betsy Hanisch, DiCianni Graphics and John Sakash Company; and 5 years—The Drake Oak Brook Hotel, JDog Junk Removal & Hauling – Elmhurst, Lezza Spumoni and Desserts, and Maiogan Insurance Agency.
New Members
The Chamber welcomed two new members in October as follows: James G. Loeser, DDS, MD, PC, and Lariano’s Pizzeria.
Dropped Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following 14 members in November: Ackerman Insurance Group, Bethel United Church of Christ, Chawla Orthodontics, Chicago Specialty Bakers, Country Inn & Suites, E-Town Fitness, Edward Technology, Elmhurst Masonic Lodge #941, EMPIST, Minuteman Press, MLE, myeyeDR, P and P Computer Games and More, and Randall Industries.
Goodbye and Good Luck
I am both sad and happy to report that Mariella Mastromauro will conclude her second year as ECCI’s Director of Member Service on October 30 and then moved to Florida to join the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce as a member retention specialist. We’ll miss you!!!
Mariella joined our Chamber in mid-October of 2018 in time to implement the new-adopted membership dues program of three tier levels (Advocate, Investor and Member), along with two new sponsorship packages (Second Century and Elm Leaf).