In response to state, Glencoe adopts grocery tax — are other towns next?

Facing a potential six-figure annual revenue loss, Village of Glencoe officials plan to implement a measure to recoup funds following a state-level decision.

Glencoe’s Village Board during its Thursday, May 15 meeting unanimously approved the adoption of a 1% local grocery tax that will replace the soon-to-expire state of Illinois tax. The decision, officials said, will help the village continue funding essential services without increasing the property-tax burden on residents.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in August of last year signed legislation eliminating Illinois’ 1% tax on groceries starting in 2026. Nikki Larson, Glencoe’s deputy village manager and chief financial officer, said during the May 15 session that the impact of losing that revenue for the village is projected to be up to $250,000 annually.

Per Larson, the state’s elimination of the tax will go into effect Jan. 1 of next year — the same date that Glencoe’s 1% tax is slated to begin. With that, residents will not see an impact from December to January, Larson noted, adding that because of the overlap, the village would not lose any revenue.

Glencoe officials first discussed the possibility of the grocery tax earlier this year during a committee of the whole meeting, as reported by The Record. Trustees signaled support for moving forward with the measure but also stated their preference to only replace revenue that the village would lose due to the elimination of the state tax.

“We do not cavalierly impose taxes,” Village President Howard Roin said. “The Village Board has talked about this at great length already in public meetings. I think we’re basically doing what all of our neighbors are doing, which is trying to maintain the revenue-neutral situation.”

The Record reported last year that the nearby City of Highland Park was also considering adding the 1% grocery tax to offset the loss of state funds. Since then, several other local municipalities have either already approved the measure or are in the process of discussing it.

Deerfield, Highwood, Palatine, Wheeling, Hoffman Estates and Barrington are among the group of nearby towns that have already approved similar measures, Larson said. Additionally, other towns such as Winnetka, Northbrook, Northfield and Skokie are currently considering doing the same, per Larson.

Glencoe officials also stated the Illinois Department of Revenue informed the village that it will be able to administer the local tax without charging an administrative fee. This, according to a village memo from Larson, ensures that municipalities will be able to retain the full amount collected from the tax.

Larson told trustees that the department of revenue is requiring that ordinances for the new sales taxes be officially filed by Oct. 1 for the Jan. 1 implementation.

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