Column: Shoppers discounted in debate over grocery tax

Chicago Tribune

23-05-2025

Just when Illinoisans thought they were getting a break from paying the highest taxes in the nation, disappointment came calling like a spring thunderstorm. After all, government can giveth and government can taketh away.
That's what's happened to the grocery tax, which Gov. JB Pritzker touted as a tax break for Illinoisans, especially poor folks, when he signed a bill last year to repeal the state's 1% levy on groceries. Groceries are taxed at 1.75%, with 1% returned to municipalities.
Except the bill gave an out, allowing municipalities to implement their own tax to make up for the revenue shortfall. Municipalities have until Oct. 1 to enact a tax without having to go to a referendum.
Which is what plenty of Illinois cities, towns and villages are doing. Residents aren't getting a say if they want to add more to their grocery bills during a time of climbing food prices.
That's because if the question was put to them, they'd surely say, 'Heck no.' In west suburban Bensenville, which straddles Cook and DuPage counties, in the April 1 municipal election, voters rejected any proposed tax hike by 91%.
That display of sentiment hasn't stopped more than 160 Illinois towns from moving to restore the grocery tax at the local level. Mayors, village managers and city council members moan they need that dependable revenue, yet never take into consideration cutting expenses. Some may think a 1% tack-on at checkout isn't a big deal, but the grocery tax — considered regressive by many — has generated an estimated $400 million annually for municipalities.
There's been a lot of finger-pointing between the governor's office and local officials, who have been given what they consider a fiscal burden to bear. Or come up with a replacement.
Gurnee is but the latest Lake County village to consider imposing some sort of sales tax increase to make up for the lost revenue when the state grocery sales tax ends on Jan. 1, 2026. The Lake Forest City Council unanimously voted to levy a 1% grocery sales tax.
Other county towns that have done the same include Bannockburn, Barrington, Buffalo Grove and Lake Zurich, while Lake Bluff is eyeing its own grocery tax. More, many more, will certainly be following.
In Lake Forest, officials estimated the city would lose $525,000 in revenue with the elimination of the grocery tax, according to a News-Sun story last month by Daniel I. Dorfman. Yet, the city currently has an approximate $3.6 million surplus.
In Gurnee, which also has a considerable surplus in its budget, earns $2 million to $2.5 million from the tax, according to Erin Yarnall's front-page News-Sun story last week. The village's finance guru said Gurnee receives approximately $1.1 million from Target and Walmart; $670,000 from Aldi, Mariano's and Jewel; up to $480,000 from drugstores, and $230,000 from other retailers.
That's a lot of tax revenue to make up, but Lake County taxpayers also pay the most taxes in the state. Illinois residents pay the highest combined state and local taxes in the nation, at more than $13,000 annually, according to a recent report by personal finance firm WalletHub.
Gurnee, which has no village property tax, has a sales tax rate of 8%, which includes the 6.25% state sales tax. That is a higher sales tax rate than 79.8% of Illinois' other municipalities, according to one estimate.
Food prices in 2025 are expected to rise 3.5%, after a 3.3% jump the past year, according to the federal government.
In 2025, overall food prices are anticipated to rise slightly faster than the historical average rate of growth, the government forecasts. In 2022, when the state suspended collecting the grocery sales tax because of inflation, food prices increased by 9.9%, faster than in any year since 1979.
With consumers impacted daily by prices at the supermarket, they have been left out of the debate of replacing the grocery sales tax. April was the last time a referendum could be held on the topic unless a municipality's leaders want to hold a special election. That certainly is not going to happen.
If you thought your grocery bill was going to be 1% less during those weekly market trips come Jan. 1, you'll be among the many disgruntled Illinoisans who believed they finally were getting a break on those high taxes until your local officials got involved.