Northfield adds grocery tax, too — joining Glencoe and Winnetka in response to state

The Village of Northfield has become the latest North Shore community to adopt a 1% grocery tax, but not every trustee was in full support of the measure.

In a 5-1 vote Tuesday evening, Aug. 26, with Trustee Ed Elfmann in dissent, the Northfield Village Board adopted a local 1% grocery tax to replace the statewide 1% grocery tax that is set to expire next year.

Last year, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation that eliminates the state’s 1% tax on groceries, effective Jan. 1, 2026; however, the state’s legislation also allows individual municipalities to adopt their own 1% grocery tax.

Since then, communities across Illinois, including the North Shore, have discussed and, in some cases, adopted their own 1% grocery tax in an effort to make up for revenue that will be lost with the elimination of the statewide tax. Both Glencoe and Winnetka recently approved grocery taxes for their communities in recent months.

Village President Tracey Mendrek said that residents will not notice a difference when it comes to what they pay.

“This is not the Village of Northfield adding a tax on our residents,” she said. “It’s simply us reinstating what we had until (the state legislature) decided to do something else. I just want to be clear about that with everyone.”

In brief comments stating his objection, Elfmann said there are aspects of the tax going to the state that he doesn’t like.

“It does get to me a bit that we don’t have data on how much (money) we’re actually sending (the state),” he said. “We know what we get back but we don’t know what we’re sending. And I think that’s something that’s made it hard for me to be supportive of this.”

Elfmann also said, however, that he understands there’s not much the Village can do about that.

While Trustee Matt Galin voted in favor of the tax, he asked that the Village Board revisit it in March when it comes time to prepare the budget. He specifically requested an “itemized discussion” of the grocery tax during that time.

“It’s a tax and I think we sort of have a responsibility to take that seriously about what we need, when we need it, and how much we need it,” Galin said. “And I think sometimes we just sort of take for granted the extra revenue we expect to receive (in the form of taxes) without always thinking about, do we need it, how much we need it, and why we need it.”

He later suggested that the tax should only be imposed a few times in the year, and noted that, since Northfield does not currently have a grocer, the tax doesn’t currently impact residents.

While Northfield has been without a grocer since the closure of Mariano’s earlier this summer, Sunset Foods recently announced that they plan to move into the grocer’s former space on Willow Road.

“We’ll take the vote, but let’s talk about it again in March,” Galin said, with trustees voicing support for his idea.

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