U. S. Open a ripoff for Illinois shooters?

Someone please tell me why the U. S. Open is not collecting fees for the ISTA. Or am I getting my information wrong?

 

Your information is correct according to the ATA Executive Committee Meeting minutes of August 1, 2016, page 35.

State & Provincial Delegates should have all the details. Surely they have reviewed the signed agreement between the parties.

On March 2, 2017 I was advised "the agreement was still in draft form and has not been finalized." Surely it must be finalized by now.

Perhaps one (ATA Delegate) might offer a response to your question. Or maybe the ISTA President might explain his reasoning for waiving State fees.

 

For those who don't care to go looking for the E. C. minutes :

 

*Isn't it the ATA Members Money that was used to build the complex, ane we have to pay ISTA fees?

GB.........................................DLS

 

Illinois gas tax going up ...
MAY 10, 2017
Contracting and fuel industry experts sounded off on a recent idea to raise Illinois’ fuel tax.
Illinoisans pay higher gasoline prices than residents in all neighboring states, according to AAA. Yet some groups are pushing a hike on gas taxes as a way to raise revenue, though research indicates that doing so would hit lower-income families hardest.

Joe Sweeney of the Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting claims that Illinois’ fuel tax isn’t high enough because the state hasn’t raised the tax since 1993. Sweeney proposes tying the growth in the gas tax rate to inflation.

“If the motor fuel tax had kept up with inflation in 2015, we would have been at 31 cents per gallon and the diesel tax would have been at 35 cents per gallon,” Sweeney said, according to the Illinois News Network.

The current state excise tax on gasoline is 19 cents per gallon. But Illinois’ gas taxes are multilayered. In addition to the state excise tax, Illinois also levies an environmental gas tax and applies the state’s sales tax

Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and Association of Convenience Stores Executive Vice President Bill Fleischli criticized Sweeney’s proposal, saying that increasing the gas tax would put Illinois at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring states, Illinois News Network reports.

“The last time the motor fuel tax was raised, volumes decreased by 7 percent. If you allow us to compete and not raise taxes, gallonage and revenue will increase,” Fleischli said in a statement reported by Illinois News Network.

How gas taxes affect Illinois drivers

The average retail price of a gallon of unleaded gas in Illinois is $2.36, while the national average is $2.33, according to AAA. Though Illinois’ gas price is only 3 cents higher than the national average, Illinois’ gas prices are higher than those in all of its neighboring states. Of Illinois’ bordering states, Missouri pays the lowest, at only $2.10 per gallon on average.

A 2012 study from the Brookings Institution showed that increases in the price of gas hurt lower-income families. The report studied 2010 gas prices and found that low-to-moderate income households that owned cars drove 10,000 miles and spent $1,500 on fuel at 2010’s average price of $2.80 per gallon. The study found that each $1 increase in the price of gas would cost these low-to-moderate income motorists an additional $530 annually.

Though Springfield lawmakers are all too happy to pitch new tax hikes – without making spending reforms – tax hikes on widely consumed products like gasoline are regressive. Tax increases on fuel would make trips to the gas station more costly for middle-class and lower-income drivers. Illinois also has the seventh-highest combined state and average local sales tax burden in the country and some of the highest property taxes nationwide, further hurting struggling residents. Taxing consumption – the buying and selling of goods – is a better model than taxing work (in the form of income taxes). Nine states do not even have state income taxes on wages. But taxing both consumption and income at the same time, and then continuing to increase the tax burden, is unfair.

And Illinois’ budget stalemate hasn’t changed residents’ tax fatigue.

Polling conducted in February and March by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and commissioned by the Illinois Policy Institute shows that a majority of Illinois voters want a budget without tax hikes, and increasing the gas tax would go against this.

Moreover, not all gas tax dollars go toward infrastructure. Revenue accrued from the state sales tax portion of the gas tax goes into the state’s general fund. And historically, new revenue from other kinds of tax hikes hasn’t even gone to new or existing services or projects, but to the state’s pension obligations. In fact, nearly 90 percent of the new revenue acquired through the 2011 tax hikes went to pensions.

Lawmakers should think twice before raising the state gas tax.


All the news, all the time ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

What does that have to do with shooting as the WSRC? Gas tax money doesn't go to pay for state parks.

 

Its about the residents of the State of Illinois getting ripped off (again), as well as anyone who buys fuel regardless of where the money is going ... I'd like to see people drive back and forth for a week or 10 days and not buy any gas, or fuel for what they are driving ... Illinois doing what Illinois does best ripping off the residents and now any one who purchases fuel in the state ... You are not required to read anything I post by the way, last time I read the rules that was not mandatory ... Have a day ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

HB,

What you outlined in Yellow also.

Any new news about the agreement ?

Time is getting closer.

Do ANY delegates ask questions ?

 

WPT I read what I want. All states have fuel taxes and I bet I'll isn't the highest. I just don't see as a bad reflection on the WSRC. That's all.

 

TShot,
The State has not attached the tax as of yet, but its coming that you can bet on ... The WSRC is in the State of (destruction) Illinois so anything the State does to up the cost to anyone and everyone reflects although not directly ... If they raise the prices on fuel, you can bet there are others things on their list because of that raise ... Its the vicious circle created a long time ago ... Somebody has to buy the chicken that lays the eggs, that will include feed and shelter ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

Did Gipson decide there would be no fees to the ISTA or did the IDNR request it?

The highlighted area doesn't clarify which entity decided the stipulation.

 

Brads friend (I hope),

It is my understanding that another FOIA request was made to the IDNR FOIA Office advising them of their denial of the initial request on the grounds that it was still in draft 8 months after the agreement was made and it was hoped that since the U.S. Open tournament was less than a month away, the written agreement surely must be completed by this time.

It is my understanding that another FOIA request for the details was made about 10 days ago and the FOIA Office in Springfield granted themselves 5 additional days (permitted by law). Three reasons were given:

1st - the 5-day time limit to provide the information requested could not be complied with without unduly burdening or interfering with their operations;

2nd - to attempt to locate related records located in other locations;

3rd - to examine and evaluate to determine if the agreement is exempt from or require redaction before disclosure

It has been my experience when informing Delegates of unknown details contained within written agreements between the ATA and IDNR that they first look dumbfounded, then they say they have doubts as to the truth of the details and finally surprised when I provide them with the document so they can read it for themselves. I usually ask them if it should be them providing the information and not the other way around.

Let's face it, Delegates are like most members . . . . . they just want to shoot and let the leadership make all the decisions. Most don't understand the importance and powers afforded them as an elected Board of Director.

Win101,

Excellent question and some believe official minutes should provide the reader with these details, thus eliminating the need to ask. It appears nobody cares to provide any answers publicly. I had hoped an ISTA official would have answered the question when it was posed some time ago.

HB

 

/ JOBS + GROWTH
MAY 10, 2017
Illinois had a record loss of 114,000 residents to other states in 2016.
Illinois politicians should remember that we are all volunteers living here, and many Illinoisans have options to live in other cities and states. As the summer weather ushers in moving season, more and more Illinoisans will opt out of living in the Land of Lincoln.

The exodus will not end until Illinois pols finally get the state’s fiscal house in order and allow for more economic growth. Repeated tax hikes and job-crushing regulations have turned Illinois into a raw deal for the hundreds of thousands of residents who continue to pour out of the state each year.

This summer promises to be another booming season for companies like U-Haul that are moving people out of Illinois.

Try this experiment to see what I mean.

Go to uhaul.com and check the price for a one-way truck rental moving from Chicago to Dallas on Saturday, July 1st. You’ll find that the current price for a one-way move is $1,650 for a 20 foot truck.

Now put the trip in reverse, making the one-way move from Dallas to Chicago instead of from Chicago to Dallas. The price for the reverse move with the same truck, the same mileage and the same date is $460.

This example shows how supply and demand affect prices, and it reveals a troubling reality for Illinois. After years of crippling outmigration, still more Illinoisans are planning to bolt this summer.

The price for a truck to leave Chicago is high because so many families are planning to get out. The price for a truck to move into Chicago is low because relatively few families are moving in to replace those who leave.

Moving companies like U-Haul need to factor these differences into their pricing model to protect their profitability, and to ensure that they don’t end up with an oversupply of Chicago-based trucks sitting in a Dallas parking lot.

You can check other cities and see similar results. There is high demand for a summer move from Chicago to cities like Denver, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando and Indianapolis.

And here’s the kicker: U-Haul prices show that Illinois is even losing to recently bankrupt Detroit. The price for a 20-foot truck moving from Chicago to Detroit is $610. But the same truck moving from Detroit to Chicago costs only $185.

It’s like one last moving tax on beleaguered families as they leave Illinois. The demand to get out of Illinois is so high that you have to pay premium rates for a truck to Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Indiana and even Michigan.

Some claim this is a phenomenon happening all across the Midwest, and that the entire region is rapidly depopulating to the south and west.

Not so fast.

Run the same experiment between Indianapolis and Dallas and you will see a very different result.

The one-way move from Indianapolis to Dallas is nearly $1000, while the one-way move from Dallas to Indianapolis is nearly $900. In other words, Dallas wins the pricing battle with Indianapolis, but not by much.

Indiana’s government cuts a more fair deal with its taxpayers, has allowed for better job creation and has slashed tax rates. As a result, more Hoosiers stick around to build their homes and chase their dreams.

As the Illinois legislative session rolls toward its close, lawmakers need to piece together a grand bargain for taxpayers over special interests. Decades of insider deals need to be unwound. Real reform will pad Illinois pocketbooks with higher incomes, more job opportunities and lower taxes.

Until then, the only industry that will be booming is the transportation of families out of Illinois.


There was a posting on the Illinois site that they lost 40,000 residents, obviously they were wrong again ...


WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

/ BUDGET + TAX
APRIL 12, 2017
SB 9 is part of the package of bills that make up the Senate “grand bargain,” which would have hiked taxes by $7 billion.
Just as summer weather rolls around, an Illinois state politician has proposed taxing landscaping services.

Senate Bill 9 gained infamy when state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights, filed an amendment to the bill March 2 proposing a 6.25 percent sales tax to cable TV and internet streaming services such as Netflix, but the proposal covers much more.

In fact, SB 9 would apply this 6.25 sales tax to services including:

• mowing, watering, and aerating lawns
• weeding
• mulching
• raking leaves
• tree and shrub trimming and removal
• planting of trees, shrubs, flowering and -flowering plants, and sod; spraying; fertilizer
• applying chemicals; lawn and garden installation
• constructing, remodeling, or repairing irrigation or lawn sprinkler systems, patios (other than asphalt, tar, macadam, or poured concrete), walkways (other than asphalt, tar, macadam, or poured concrete), fences, trellises, and retaining walls
• grading (such as the filling or leveling of topsoil for lawns and gardens)

Hutchinson’s proposal would also apply the tax to snow plowing and removal.

SB 9 is part of the package of bills that make up the Senate “grand bargain,” which would have hiked taxes by $7 billion – including a permanent income tax hike. And the cost drivers that have gotten Illinois into its fiscal mess would have remained almost entirely unchanged.

Tax hikes aren’t the answer. The 2011 income tax hike brought in more than $31 billion in new revenue – and nearly 90 cents of every tax hike dollar went to pensions. Yet Illinois’ pension debt has exploded, and today stands at $130 billion.

Two polls Fabrizio, Lee & Associates conducted and the Illinois Policy Institute commissioned found that not only do the majority of likely Illinois voters want the state to close its budget deficit by only cutting spending, but they also support major reforms that would make that possible.

The polls found:

• 67 percent of Illinoisans surveyed support a permanent property tax freeze that could only be broken by a local vote

• 78 percent of respondents said current state workers should have the option to leave the pension system and enroll in 401(k)-style retirement savings plans

• 80 percent of Illinoisans surveyed supported spending cuts as a vehicle to balance the state budget

• More than half of Illinoisans said spending cuts should be the only tool used to close the budget deficit

Grand bargain stalls, marking opportunity for real reform

By the end of March, the grand bargain had lost all momentum.

The Illinois Policy Institute’s Budget Solutions 2018 gives Illinois homeowners much needed property tax relief by enacting a five-year property tax freeze, while also reforming local spending drivers, like collective bargaining and other expensive state mandates.

The reform budget package also includes a constitutional plan to begin an end to Illinois’ pension crisis by enrolling all new government workers in self-managed retirement plans, and allowing current workers to opt into those 401(k)-style plans, too. This means the state’s broken pension system would eventually be phased out.

Through a combination of structural reforms and eliminating wasteful spending, Budget Solutions presents a balanced budget plan that does not hike taxes, putting Illinois on the path toward fiscal health and economic growth.


WPT ... (YAC) ... If anyone is interested you can go to Illinois Policy/FB and see all the good they have done (NONE) ...

 

Thanks HB for that update...

Talk about getting the run-around ~~~

State sure has a ton of excuses

 

I dont see minutes on the Illinois site.

 

Regarding the agreement noted in the A.T.A. Executive Committee minutes whereby the A.T.A. will manage the U.S. Open tournament for the IDNR, I just received a phone call from the State of Illinois. They requested additional time beyond the extra 5 day extension they needed because they were unable to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations for an allowable reason.

It was explained to me by a IL State representative that it was her understanding that the agreement was just signed last evening (May 15, 2017 I assume) and they do not have the agreement yet. I agreed to their request for additional time to allow the IDNR FOIA Office to obtain the documents and was asked to send a communication verifying my agreement.

In reading the above minutes, one could easily assume that a written proposal was submitted by the IDNR, reviewed by the A.T.A., possibly amended, accepted by the A.T.A., signed by both parties and then reported as a finished deal in Executive Committee meeting minutes. Shame on me for making reasonable assumptions.

10 months ago (August 2016), the agreement was made and reported that the A.T.A. would mange the 2017 U.S. Open Shoot. It was advertised monthly and reportedly finally penned just two weeks prior to the tournament. You won't find this method in the book of better business practices.

I haven't found any minutes on this subject either. However, I did inform the Illinois State Delegate about the interest expressed on this forum and asked that a representative of the Illinois State Trapshooting Association (ISTA) consider posting an explanation here.

HB