Grocery tax stalls in Chicago council, measure approved in Bloomington
[September 27, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Bloomington has joined hundreds of Illinois
municipalities by reinstating a one-percent grocery tax that will soon
be eliminated by the state, but Chicago faces an estimated $80 million
revenue loss after officials failed to act.
Chicago’s city council did not consider the tax at Thursday’s five-hour
meeting, which started more than two hours late.
Chicago budget Director Annette Guzman said in June that not reaffirming
the tax before Oct. 1 would exacerbate the city’s budget gap of more
than $1 billion.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday evening that he expects
conversations to continue.
“At this point, I’ve made it very clear I’m going to work to ensure we
have the revenue that we need to make sure that we’re hiring young
people, that we’re creating pathways to build more affordable units,
that we’re expanding mental and behavioral healthcare services and that
we’re making critical investments to keep our community safe,” Johnson
said.
The mayor said the grocery tax is not his.
“I don’t own the rights to any taxes. This is a tax that’s been around
for 30 years. The state has historically collected this tax. The state
has decided that it no longer wants the responsibility to collect the
tax,” Johnson said.
In August 2024, Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted the repeal of the statewide
1% tax on groceries, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The same law authorized
municipalities in Illinois to pass a 1% local replacement of the tax,
which would take effect after the state tax expires.
Speaking on behalf of The Urban Center, Chicago resident Aron Mantyla
addressed the city council and expressed strong opposition to the
grocery tax.
“It is a direct hit to working families, especially now, when food costs
are already more than 20% higher than just a few years ago,” Mantyla
said.
Mantyla said the tax would also hurt small, local grocers.
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Alan Wooten | The Center Square
“These local grocers are not faceless corporations. These are daily
lifelines in underserved neighborhoods. When costs go up, customers
go elsewhere, people move away or we all cut back. When those
businesses close, access to affordable groceries disappears. This is
not just a tax, it is a regressive tax,” Mantyla explained.
Chicago’s sales tax rate is 10.25%, including the combination of
state and local taxes.
Although aldermen did not consider the grocery tax or a proposed
ordinance to allow video gaming terminals in the city, they did
approve plans for the Chicago Fire to build a new, soccer-specific
stadium on the city’s Near South Side.
Aldermen also voted 43-4 to issue a formal apology on behalf of the
city to Black citizens of Chicago for the historical injustices of
slavery.
The Chicago City Council’s next scheduled meeting is Oct. 16.
Earlier this week, Bloomington’s city council voted in favor of
imposing the one-percent tax. Council member Mollie Ward opposed the
measure.
“It would not only provide a burden on people who are already
suffering, but it would provide a burden on those least able to
accommodate that burden, carry that burden,” Ward said.
Two other council members joined Ward in voting against the tax at
Monday’s meeting.
“There are those on fixed incomes. There are the working poor,” Ward
added.
City manager Jeff Jurgens estimated that not continuing the grocery
tax would cost Bloomington about $3 million in revenue.
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