The City of Carmi will continue to tax groceries at 1% after January of 2026. That decision was made at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The city joins more than 200 other municipalities throughout the state who will keep the tax on consumers following the state’s grocery tax suspension at the end of 2025. Mayor Bill Stendeback offered some scope on the tax.
It was first implemented in 1990. It was paused for a couple years during CoViD. It’s set to expire January 1, 2026. I was told that we would average; the city would average between $100,000 and $125,000 per year from keeping that tax.
The Illinois Policy Institute suggested that many communities could suffer budget shortfalls without the local grocery tax. The change basically shifts responsibility for funding local services from the state to the local level. Alderman Doug Hays offered his perspective.
The main reason I’d like to keep it is one, yes you’re already paying it. But two, since it’s a grocery tax, it gets everybody that lives right outside of Carmi that still benefits from their streets being plowed of snow and everything else [indistinguishable] in Carmi they’d like to see and that’s where that money comes from is taxes because that’s the corporate side. So people outside the city that don’t pay city taxes still benefit from city taxes and 1% you’re already paying on groceries…I know a lot of people from Harrisburg and Mt. Vernon and everywhere else and like I said, they’ve been paying it for 30, 40 years so unless anybody is dead set opposed to it, I’ll make a motion we pass the ordinance.
The council unanimously voted to implement that tax.
Also Tuesday night, Council renewed a CD for 18 months with First National Bank of Allendale. That money had been in a CD with Peoples National Bank for the past 6 months.
Leaders also passed multiple pay estimates for work being done throughout the city. At the next council meeting on August 5th, we’re expecting a list of equipment the city has determined is excess and Carmi will offer those items up for sale through a sealed bid process.
Mayor Stendeback continued to promote the airport and the upcoming fly in on August 2nd. Leaders also thanked city employees for their efforts to repair the water main break that affected the entire city beginning last Thursday.
Council adjourned at 5:53pm.