PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) – Illinois drivers will now pay two cents more per gallon of gasoline to help the state and cities finance road construction projects.

The state fuel tax will rise from 45 cents to 47 cents per gallon — a 3.5 percent increase — meaning everyone who fills up in Illinois will pay more. On average, Illinois drivers will pay $184 more per year.

Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich said the additional money will be used to fund road construction projects in Illinois.

“We get about $5 million a year in state vehicle tax. We get another $4 million from property tax and our local fuel tax. That's our road construction program, and that's about $9 million a year,” he said. “We have a project this year to rehabilitate Pioneer Parkway and the University Intersection. That project is costing $9 million.”

“This essentially takes up our entire road budget for a year and this is an intersection in the city of Peoria,” Urich said.

The increase is part of the “Rebuild Illinois” infrastructure program launched by Governor JB Pritzker. His administration raised the tax to 38 cents per gallon in 2019 when the spending program took effect.

Since then, the tax has risen based on the consumer price index, with only a brief respite in 2022 when gasoline prices soared.

Starting Monday, July 1, electric vehicle owners in the state of Illinois will also be required to pay an annual fee of $100 to offset lost tax revenue.

Brett Beachler, owner of Beachlers Tire & Automotive Center in Peoria, criticized the decision to raise taxes.

“If we don't get our spending under control, we're going to have to find other ways to raise revenue, and if we don't, we're going to run into a deficit,” he said. “The fact that we have politicians in Springfield who are unable to control their spending and have to use these resources to do that. I mean, it's black and white, there are no two sides to it. It comes down to an inability to control spending.”