Plainfield Keeps 'Status Quo', Implements Local Tax To Replace Repealed State Tax

PLAINFIELD, IL — On the heels of Illinois eliminating its state grocery tax, Plainfield trustees unanimously voted Monday night to implement the village's own tax — the same 1 percent — to maintain its revenue base.

The state collects a 1 percent tax on groceries and remits it to municipalities, but beginning Jan. 1, 2026, it will be eliminated. Plainfield staff estimated the village received between $1.25 million to $2 million in revenue from the tax in 2024, and trustees decided the village couldn't afford the hole in the budget, Mayor John Argoudelis explained.

In Plainfield, four of the village's top 10 sales tax generators are grocery-based, "leading staff to believe that revenue is likely toward the higher end of the estimated range," Assistant Village Administrator Traci Pleckham and Director of Management Services Ashton Stipp wrote in a memorandum.

"It represents zero change from what everyone's already been [paying]," he told Patch. "We look at it as a status quo."

To continue the existing 1 percent grocery tax, Plainfield was required to pass an ordinance and submit it to the Illinois Department of Revenue before Oct. 1.

Per the Illinois Municipal League, 187 municipalities across Illinois, including nearby Naperville and Yorkville, have already passed an ordinance to impose a local grocery tax to replace the expiring state tax, as of the June 9 memorandum.