Chicago might join 209 voting to tax groceries: is your town on list?
Over 200 Illinois towns have opted to charge a 1% grocery tax. Chicago is likely to follow. Local leaders have until October to decide whether to impose this regressive tax on people’s need to eat.
Illinois towns are deciding whether to impose the 1% grocery tax set to expire statewide in 2026, with 209 of Illinois’ roughly 1,300 municipalities so far opting for it.
Chicago may be next.
When Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the plan to end the state grocery tax, he said the tax unfairly burdens low-income Illinoisans. But he and state lawmakers left the final decision up to local leaders: Either cut spending or pass the cost on to residents.
As of June 4, 209 Illinois municipalities opted for the tax. Search the graphic below to see if your town is one of them.
Some towns are letting the grocery tax expire, saving people extra money given the rise in grocery prices. But others are imposing this regressive tax, even as food prices remain high. When the tax was suspended for one year, grocery shoppers statewide saved $300 million.
Chicago is expected to tax groceries
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s top budget expert, City Budget Director Annette Guzman, told the city council it must “reaffirm the grocery tax before the state’s deadline of Oct. 1.”
Johnson has argued because the 1% tax is already in place, residents wouldn’t notice a difference in grocery costs if it continues, even though Chicagoans would miss out on the tax relief other Illinoisans are getting. Chicago’s poverty rate is nearly 17% compared the national rate of 11%.
Bensenville voters were clear: no
Some towns are letting their voters have a say. Bensenville officials held an advisory vote and the result was overwhelming: 90% voted against the tax.
Still, under the law ending the statewide grocery tax, towns can bypass voters entirely. Communities can keep or reinstate the tax without asking residents at all.
Polling from the Illinois Policy Institute in 2023 found over 70% of Illinoisans would like to see the tax expire. Bensenville voters loudly confirmed that.
Local leaders should think twice
Cities have until October to notify the state whether they will continue the grocery tax in 2026. If their residents are anything like Bensenville’s, local leaders should tread carefully – and maybe stop taxing people’s need to eat.