Illinoisans react to “Illinois Family Relief Plan”

ILLINOIS (KFVS) - Starting Friday, July 1, Illinoisans can take a bit of a breather when paying for essential items. That’s all because of a new plan making a temporary relief in taxes.

The plan is called the “Illinois Family Relief Plan.” It will pause some taxes, such as on items like gas.

“I don’t usually buy gas in Illinois because it’s higher than it is in Missouri or Kentucky,” Linda Baldwin said.

Gas prices seem to keep going up. At a station in Anna, Ill., a gallon of regular gas is $5.19.

However, when the Illinois Family Relief Plan starts, a scheduled increase in motor fuel tax will be pushed back to January 2023.

“It’ll help I think anything will help if it goes down,” Baldwin said.

That’s not all; shoppers also no longer have to pay the state’s 1 percent tax on groceries until June 2023.

“That would be nice but I know that is happening around the world right now so whatever they can offer I will take it,” Bonnie Burton said.

According to a release, the plan also includes savings on clothing and school-related items.

Between August 5 to 14, sales tax will reduce from 6.25 percent to 1.25 percent.

Some folks question how much this will help their pockets.

“It’s a little annoying because it’s not totally going to make that much of a difference. I guess efforts are appreciated but everyone is struggling pretty hard,” Taylor Khan said.

Illinoisans tell me this is a start, but they are hoping to see a bigger dip in prices soon.

“Some kind of completely different plan on how we are going to handle this,” Khan said.

In addition, Illinois is also providing property tax rebates for eligible homeowners.

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