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State Stix

In December the general funds end-of-month balance was $392.39 million; the general funds average daily available balance was $340.06 million; and the combined funds end-of-month balance was $578.70 million. . . . The statewide, seasonally adjusted, unemployment rate in December was 9.4 percent. In November the final, seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in the state's major cities were: Bloomington-Normal, 6.1 percent; Champaign-Urbana, 5.3 percent; Chicago, 7.6 percent; Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (Illinois sector), 8.4 percent; Decatur, 10.8 percent; Kankakee, 10.7 peri cent; Peoria, 8.4percent; Rockford, 12.9 percent; Springfield, 6.4 percent; St. Louis, 9.3 percent. ... A 5 percent hike in state welfare benefits went into effect January 1. For a Chicago family of four with no outside income receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the increase raises the monthly grant to $368. Such a family living in Springfield will get $348 and in Marion $309 la month. The cost of the increase, the first since October 1979, will be $23 million, with reimbursements of 50 percent by the federal government for grants made under the AFDC program. As of November 1980, 787,000 people in the state were receiving welfare benefits. . . . After six months without an increase, gasoline prices increased 1.6 percent per gallon in December, reaching $1,326 per gallon at the pumps, according to the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources. This is an 18 percent increase over the price of gas since last year, despite decreasing demands and satisfactory supplies. . . . State Lottery sales for the first half of fiscal 1981 have increased 211 percent, from $29,474,657 to $91,649,790, over the same period last year while profits have increased 184 percent, from $12,556,848 to $35,639,270, according to Richard W. Carlson, lottery superintendent. . . . Although snowfall in Illinois by January 1 was near normal, total precipitation is below normal with 81 percent of the state reporting a shortage in soil moisture, according to Pete Vinzani, meteorologist with the State Water Survey. Vinzani said that even though the situation is bad right now — January 1981 could be the sixth driest January ever. . . . According to the Illinois Federation of Tax-Ipayers, Illinois leads the nation in utility taxes Tor 1980. In fiscal 1978, the state received $372 million in public utility taxes; in fiscal 1980, the state utility tax generated $470.3 million, thus surpassing the motor fuel tax as the state's third most important source of revenue. While other types of state revenue generated a fairly consistent amount of income between fiscal 1975 and 1980, revenue from the public utility tax increased 95 percent. This is because utility taxes are based on a company's gross receipts and therefore have ,kept pace with the skyrocketing cost of fuel.

March 1981/Illinois Issues/34


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