By: Jada Fulcher
As election day looms, one elected official has chimed in on a local ballot referendum.
Illinois State Representative Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) held a press conference this Thursday at the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana to announce her opposition to the Champaign County Public Safety Sales Tax increase. A referendum to approve this tax increase will be on the ballot for Champaign County residents during the November 5 election.
“On principle, I do not believe that those of us who work, those of us who are in need of government support, should be footing the bill, especially not when the rich and the corporations and the powerful pay so little in comparison,” said Ammons.
If the ballot referendum does pass, the current Public Safety Sales Tax will be doubled, and the city will receive an estimated 6.5 to 7 million dollars in public safety funds, according to the Brookens Administrative Center.
In the press conference, Ammons referred to the tax as “regressive” and questioned the need for the tax increase.
“Who would benefit from doubling the taxes? This is the $7 million question that even the county executive refuses to answer,” said Ammons.
No specific commitments have been made to what the funds will be used for outside of the state-level requirement that the funds be used within the county's criminal justice system only.
Ammons was clear to say that she supports the Champaign County Public Defenders’ Office, however she does not believe they will be prioritized in this measure.
“Unfortunately, the County Board has always prioritized jails, they just spent 20 million dollars on one, and prosecution. Public Defense has never been a priority for the county board,” said Ammons.
Ammons ended her press conference imploring residents to vote no on the ballot referendum.
“We cannot fund any program on the backs of those in most need, and those programs should certainly not be already inflated budgets that law enforcement already has. To achieve real public safety, we have to address the fundamentals.”
Rep. Ammons opposes Champaign County sales tax increase
As election day looms, one elected official has chimed in on a local ballot referendum.