Clarendon Hills Wants Grocery Tax To Stay

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – The state's 1 percent grocery sales tax, which goes to towns, is going away next January. But Clarendon Hills officials want to keep it locally.

When the state legislature repealed the tax, it gave towns the power to keep it.

Clarendon Hills' administration is recommending the Village Board vote to let the tax remain.

The grocery tax income makes up 30 percent of the village's total sales taxes, according to a memo.

Replacing the loss would require maximum property tax increases for several years, the village said. Under state law, the village is allowed to hike the property tax levy every year by the inflation rate, up to 5 percent.

"To maintain financial stability and ensure uninterrupted revenue to support essential local services and operations, it is crucial (to keep the 1 percent tax)," the village's finance director, Maureen Potempa, said in a memo.

The Village Board plans to review the issue Monday. No final action is expected.