Should Decatur eliminate its grocery tax?
Currently, a 1% tax is added to your grocery bills on most food items for home consumption. The tax is collected by the state and transferred to the city. The state will eliminate its collection of the tax at the end of 2025, and the Decatur City Council has until October to decide whether to retain or eliminate the tax effective 2026. I am asking for your feedback. Should the city eliminate or retain the grocery tax?
REASONS TO ELIMINATE THE GROCERY TAX
Residents of Decatur are already taxed enough. Macon County, IL had the 8th highest effective property tax rate in the U.S. in 2024 at 2.06% (the national average is 0.86%) according to ATTOM. Furthermore, over 40% of Macon County residents do not make enough income to make ends meet. At some point, elected officials need to come to the conclusion that continued taxation at already highly elevated levels is not a solution to Decatur’s substantial challenges including population decline (10% decrease since 2010). In fact, the perpetuation of already elevated taxes may exacerbate them by encouraging residents to consider other places to live. Finally, the impact to the general fund revenues is relatively low. With a general fund budget of $96 million, a $2.7 million reduction in grocery tax revenue is 2.8%.
REASONS TO RETAIN THE GROCERY TAX
Losing the $2.7 million in annual revenue could result in cuts to public safety and neighborhood revitalization initiatives and therefore slow progress on the city council’s strategic priorities. In addition, a portion of the grocery tax revenue is coming from non-Decatur residents. Individuals in nearby municipalities buy their groceries in Decatur, and thus, eliminating this revenue source will put an undue burden on Decatur residents to make-up the lost revenue. The Decatur City Council should focus on cutting other taxes instead such as property tax. The grocery tax is not a new tax, rather it is changing the means of collection from the state to the municipality. A tax of $1 for every $100 spent is not a large amount and unlikely to impact food consumption.
THE VOTE SHOULD BE TABLED
Voting on the grocery tax this Monday is unnecessary and is poor timing. Tens of thousands of Decatur residents are celebrating Easter with their families and are likely paying less attention to Monday’s city council agenda. Furthermore, as of the time this post was written, I am not aware that any of the local news sources have mentioned the grocery tax agenda item. Finally, our newest city council member, has not been sworn in. Residents deserve the chance to be informed about city issues and provide an opportunity to give feedback. For example, residents may be supportive of the continuation of the grocery tax but want 100% of the proceeds to go to neighborhood revitalization initiatives.
The vote should be tabled until September given that it does not have to be approved to October. This will give city leadership time to demonstrate its commitment to revenue growth through economic growth and to eliminate unnecessary spending. It is unclear why one should support a grocery tax when we continue to ban legal revenue sources such as a cannabis dispensary in the city. Its unclear why one should support a grocery tax when last fall we spent $1.1 million for an unnecessary and redundant water pipeline. Delaying the vote will also mean we will be in a better position to assess the 2025 budget and forecast the 2026 budget.
PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS AT THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The Decatur City Council will meet on April 21 at 5:30 PM in the council chambers located on the third floor of the Decatur Civic Center (1 Gary K. Anderson Place). Free parking is available in the lot immediately south of the entrance. Citizens are encouraged to attend meetings and express their views. Citizens are allotted 3 minutes per person near the beginning of each city council meeting. In addition, citizens can provide comments regarding one regular agenda item per meeting for up to three minutes provided they notify the city in advance (and prior to the start of the meeting). You can request to speak on a particular agenda item at a council meeting by filling out an on-line form at: https://www.decaturil.gov/FormCenter/Mayor-Council-11/Advance-Request-to-Speak-at-Council-Meet-60.
AGENDAS FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE
An agenda and information about each agenda item for each city council meeting can be found at: https://www.decaturil.gov/mayor-and-council/council-meetings/.
CITIZENS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
If you would like to discuss city issues with a council member, phone numbers and email addresses for each council member can be found at the following link: https://www.decaturil.gov/300/Mayor-Council.