A Cook County Circuit Court judge in Illinois has ruled that the county violated the state constitution by using $243 million in fiscal year 2023 transportation tax revenue for purposes unrelated to transportation, handing a legal victory to a statewide coalition of construction trade groups.
Judge Alison Conlon ruled Jan. 28 that the county’s spending violated the Safe Roads Amendment, also known as the transportation “safety box” amendment, which requires revenue from taxes on gasoline, parking facilities and vehicle purchases to be used exclusively for transportation projects. Cook County had argued the funds could support other government operations tied to traffic enforcement, including paying parts of the budgets for the county sheriff’s office, state’s attorney, juvenile probation department, public defender, circuit court clerk and courts.
The Illinois Highway and Transportation Builders Association filed the lawsuit in 2018 to prevent the county from using revenue from taxes on gasoline, parking facilities and vehicle purchases for non-transportation purposes. The group argued that the diversion of these funds threatened transport infrastructure and the livelihoods of its members.
Illinois voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2016 by a wide margin, aimed at ensuring that transportation revenue would be set aside for road, bridge and transit projects. At the time, critics argued that the amendment’s wording was vague and could limit government budgets.
Conlon acknowledged in his ruling that the county’s approach was unreasonable, given what he described as a lack of clarity in how the amendment applies to county budgets. Even so, it found the entire challenged expense to be unconstitutional.
In response to the ruling in a statement, Cara Yi, spokeswoman for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (D), said, “The county remains committed to complying with the Safe Roads Amendment and using the Transportation Fund to address all expenditures allowed under the amendment.”
Cook County had previously argued that it was exempt from the amendment because it is a self-governing unit, but the Illinois Supreme Court rejected that argument in 2022. The county then developed a methodology to justify allocating transportation dollars to public safety departments by estimating how much of their work, and thus their budgets, was related to traffic enforcement.
Although the plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction preventing future diversion of transportation funds, the judge wrote that he did not believe that was necessary.
In his statement, Yi explained that spending by the county’s Department of Transportation and Highways has progressed since 2016, including $1.36 billion for multimodal transportation projects and initiatives and $192 million in state and federal grants for road, bicycle and transit projects that the county led or partnered with other agencies to complete. It also helped secure an additional $422 million in federal funding to help complete the CREATE 75th St Corridor Improvement Program (CIP) by bringing in $107 million in county funds.
Despite those allocations, IRTBA President and CEO Mike Sturino said the county’s roads and bridges face significant infrastructure needs. “Our infrastructure is old and our roads and bridges are poor,” he said. “It’s the billions of dollars in infrastructure that need to be taken care of. This ruling requires the county to adjust its budget.”
During the trial, Sturino identified projects that rely on transportation tax revenue, including improvements to Interstate 290 and the Blue Line Corridor, the CREATE 75th Street Corridor freight rail program on Chicago’s Southwest Side, Vision Zero pedestrian and bicycle safety initiatives, work to improve I-190 for access to O’Hare International Airport, and pedestrian safety improvements and express access to O’Hare International Airport, and pedestrian safety. infrastructures throughout the region.
The industry coalition includes the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois, Associated General Contractors of Illinois, Associated General Contractors of Chicagoland, Illinois Concrete Pipe Association, Women’s Contractors Federation, Great Lakes Contractors Association, Illinois Asphalt Paving Association, Aggregate Producers Association, Illinois Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Underground Contractors Association.
