Aldermen vote to keep local grocery tax

Aldermen voted Tuesday to keep a 1 percent grocery tax for everyone who shops in Wilmington. The state of Illinois is dropping the tax in January 2026 but local residents will continue to pay it.
According to finance director Nancy Gross, the Wilmington collects approximately $270,000 in grocery sales tax annually.
In May, 2024, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker eliminated the 1 percent grocery tax beginning Jan. 1, 2026. The governor, however, left it up to local governments if they wanted to impose their own 1 percent tax, either on groceries or local sales tax, without holding a referendum.
“If they want to impose a grocery tax on their local residents, they should be able to do that,” Pritzker said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do, I wouldn’t do it locally. Having said that, I understand the need for the dollar, and if they feel like they need it they should think about imposing that tax on their own.”
Which is exactly what the council voted to do. As the ordinance came up for a vote, aldermen Kevin Kerwin, Ryan Jeffries, Dennis Vice, Jonathan Mietzner and Rachel Conforti, who just took the oath of office, voted to impose the tax.
Aldermen Ryan Knight, Thomas Smith and Todd Holmes voted against the grocery tax.
Currently 46 Illinois towns, not including Wilmington, have chosen to continue the grocery tax.
According to Illinois Policy, 37 states do not impose a grocery tax. Illinois is the only one of the 10 most populous states with a grocery tax.
The organization also pointed out that consumers have been hammered with inflation in the past four years the average grocery price increasing nearly $3,000.
“Taxing people’s need to eat falls hardest on low-income families. To the roughly 33 percent of Illinois households making $50,000 a year, adding back the grocery tax compounds sky-high inflation and takes money away for health care, housing and other basic needs,” according to Illinois Policy.
The village of Diamond, where a Jewel Osco store opened last Novemeber, has already voted to keep the 1 percent grocery tax in place. However, Diamond uses its video gaming revenue of $157.888 to subsidize resident water bills. Between Jan. 2024 to Jan. 2025, gaming revenue in Diamond was $157,888.
Gaming revenue in the city of Wilmington for the same period was $308,057. Currently those dollars are added to the city’s general fund where most of the overall spending takes place.