Lil' Buddy's Blog - Around Chicago, Gasoline About To Get Even More Expensive!

THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!

Good Morning, you dogs!  On the way to get gas.  I hate when I am almost empty.  Will I make it to the Mobil station?  Will I?  Will I?

You may have heard that the Chicago Area long has had some of the highest prices for a gallon of gas almost anywhere in the U.S. I saw this clearly a couple of weeks ago, driving back from New Orleans, and the 2010 Keller Williams Family Reunion Conference.

Drive through LA, MS, AR, MO, even Southern Illinois, and you see regular gas these days for about $2.65/gallon.  Here in Chicago - now over $3.00!

Used to be around here, if you wanted to save a few cents on a gallon of gas, you headed outside of the City of Chicago, for the nearest Chicago Suburb.  The Chicago City Limits are only about a mile from the suburbs of Skokie and Niles IL - gas is usually about 12 cents cheaper in these towns.

That might change this summer, however. 

As reported in The Chicago Tribune, in a story by Joseph Ruzich and Alicia Fabbre, many Chicago Suburbs, starving for more revenue in a tough economy, are looking to increased gasoline taxes to help fill their coffers.  Real Estate Transfer Tax Revenue, and Local Sales Tax Revenue, is down, as fewer humans move, and fewer still buy big stuff.

Out west of the City of Chicago, the suburb of Elmhurst is considering a 1.5 cent new tax on gasoline.  Further west, in Naperville IL, local gas taxes are already 2 cents on every gallon.  City leaders are considering doubling that!

Suburbs seeking tax increases promise to use the incremental revenue for local infrastructure and road projects.  Some community leaders feel the increased tax is less "obvious" than raising other local taxes - on real estate, for example, or the local sales tax.

But one troubling side effect might come to the gas stations owners themselves, as drivers in need of a fill-up might just pass them by, and search for gas in the next, and perhaps tax-cheaper suburb, further down the road.

In Naperville, the projected budget gap for 2011 is $5.5 Million.  The proposed gas tax increase will bring in about $700,000 - hardly bridging the gap.

Nearby, the suburb of Boling brook IL has a 5 cent per gallon gas tax.  Wheaton taxes at 4 cents per gallon, Woodridge and Downers Grove at 2.5 cents each.

The Chicago Suburbs of Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park, south and west of the City of Chicago, recently doubled their tax on a gallon of gas to 6 cents.  Northwest Suburban Des Plaines - also recently doubled, to 4 cents per gallon.  Glenview, Skokie, and Morton Grove IL also have implemented a gasoline tax to help fund local road and infrastructure projects.

Even towns in the nearby states of IN and WI are taxing gas more these days.  No where, it seems, can we dogs seem to save a buck on our daily commutes.

Say, you dogs - can anyone spare a $50?  Have to fill up my Lil' Honda?

Enjoy the weekend!  Humans:  take your lil' furry friends for frequent trips to the park!   OK?

See my post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com, please.

YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,

BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO