Reardon Wants To Raise Joliet's Gas Taxes Even Higher: Paper

JOLIET, IL — This month, thousands of residents of Joliet were angry as Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker carried out his political wishes of implementing a 19-cent per gallon fuel tax. Now, newly elected Joliet City Councilwoman Sherri Reardon is contemplating ways of making the residents of Joliet pay even more at the pump across Joliet.

Bob Okon of The Joliet Herald-News has reported that Reardon made the suggestion of raising the city's gasoline taxes at a recent city council committee meeting. If her proposal materializes, the city of Joliet could spend several million dollars for buying new fleet vehicles throughout the city, notably for the Joliet Police Department and the Joliet Public Works Division.

According to the newspaper article, Reardon said her idea of raising the Joliet gas tax was still in its infancy stages.

“We’re not just putting the tax on residents of Joliet,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “Anyone who buys gas in Joliet would be paying this tax, and we’d be able to use it to replace our vehicles.”

You can read the full article in The Joliet-Herald News here.

When Reardon ran for Joliet City Council and won office on April 2 defeating Joliet Park Board member Joe Mutz, Reardon did not campaign on a platform of raising Joliet's fuel taxes.

And she also didn't campaign on a platform of getting rid of Marty Shanahan as city manager.

However, in June, shortly after taking office, Reardon became the pivotal swing vote on the city council. She did not want Shanahan installed as the permanent city manager. She also voted to remove Shanahan from his job of interim city manager, a post he had filled during the past eight months, as well as back in 2017 after Jim Hock retired from the position that April.

Shanahan has cleared out his office and has returned back to the city's legal department.

A number of long-time city political observers believe Reardon is most closely aligned on the city council with Pat Mudron, the leader of the Mudron Five.