More than half of Illinois municipalities adopt local grocery sales tax

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The Illinois Municipal League announced that 656 municipalities across the state, more than half, have adopted an ordinance establishing a 1% local grocery tax.

This is to replace the statewide grocery tax that will expire on Jan. 1, 2026.

The statewide 1% grocery sales tax was repealed as part of the State Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

The Illinois Municipal League says that, without this funding, many municipalities could face significant budget shortfall, possibly impacting services like public safety, public utilities, and infrastructure maintenance and repair.

IML advocated for legislation granting both home rule and non-home rule municipalities local authority to implement their own 1% grocery sales tax by ordinance.

IML Chief Executive Officer Brad Cole said, "Sales tax revenues - for general merchandise or groceries, alike - are a cornerstone of many local budgets across Illinois, which is why 50.7% of municipalities took action to preserve this funding."

The deadline for municipalities to have passed an ordinance and file it with the Illinois Department of Revenue was October 1 to make sure it takes effect Jan. 1, 2026 and prevent loss of funding.

Municipalities still wanting to adopt a local grocery sales tax can do so by submitting a certified copy of an ordinance to IDOR, postmarked by April 1, 2026 for July 1, 2026 implementation or by Oct. 1, 2026 for Jan. 1, 2027 implementation.

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