Dan Caulkins fears what the future could bring after a recent IRS report revealed Illinois lost more than 86,000 residents and nearly $5 billion in adjusted gross income over a yearlong period beginning in 2015.
“This is worse than anyone could have projected,” Caulkins said in a press release. “I wonder what the numbers will be next year when the 32 percent income tax hike goes into effect.”
In addition to the IRS report, a recent Paul Simon Public Policy Institute survey found that nearly 50 percent of all Illinois residents now want to leave the state, with runaway taxes being cited as the top reason to bolt.
Overall, the IRS data concluded that Illinois experienced a loss of nearly 42,000 tax returns to other states over 2015-16, equating to an all-time high in lost exemptions.
Perhaps making matters even worse is the fact that millennials are leading the charge in fleeing the state. The top 10 states to which Illinois lost people were Florida (12,800 exemptions gained from Illinois on net), Texas (9,400), Indiana (8,200), California (7,600), Arizona (6,400), Wisconsin (6,000), Colorado (4,700), Georgia (4,200), Tennessee (3,600) and North Carolina (2,700), according to the report.
“The data shows just how bad the people of Illinois are being hurt by the tax-and-spend policies of the career politicians in Springfield,” Caulkins said in the release. “It’s not just young people who are leaving. Retirees are being forced out of their homes by crushing property taxes. And, people aren’t just heading to warmer parts of the country, they are also moving to neighboring states like Indiana and Wisconsin.”
Caulkins, a Decatur Republican who is seeking the 101st House District seat of Rep. Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth), who is retiring, wants to be part of the solution.
“I will go to Springfield and work to make our state a friendlier environment for businesses and taxpayers,” he added. “We cannot afford to let this trend continue. We are all very concerned by the self-centered actions of a corrupt political machine who don’t seem to care about the average person trying to make a living here in Illinois.”
The 101st House District includes parts of Champaign, McLean, Dewitt, Macon and Piatt counties.
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