Skokie budget restores 1% grocery tax, hikes water rates but freezes property tax

After the state of Illinois rolled back a 1% grocery tax, effective at the end of the year, the Skokie Village Board joined many other suburbs in voting to restore and collect the tax starting in 2026.

The move took place as the Skokie Village Board approved the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, which also contains a 15% water rate hike, but maintains the village’s freeze on the property tax rate for the 36th year in a row.

Essentially, residents will not see their grocery tax go up; it will, in effect, remain the same, though if Skokie and the other suburbs had not restored it, grocery shoppers would have paid less tax at the checkout counter.

Village trustees approved the budget at their June 4 meeting after three budget hearings, according to a spokesperson for the village.

Once Skokie’s grocery tax is implemented on Jan. 1, 2026, the village will join the suburbs of Barrington, Berwyn, Buffalo Grove, Carol Stream, Cicero, Des Plaines, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich, Lombard, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Palatine, Schaumburg, Tinley Park, Wheaton and others in having a grocery tax of its own.

Skokie and other suburbs currently benefit from a grocery tax collected by the state of Illinois and disbursed back to municipalities. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill last year abolishing the grocery tax because it hurts low-income people the most. However, low-income recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, do not pay the tax, according to previous reporting.

The village also anticipates raising its water rate by 15% for an increase of 99 cents per 100 cubic feet of water.

Skokie’s Director of Communications and Community Engagement Patrick Deignan said even with the hike, Skokie’s water rate is second lowest among neighboring communities, with only Evanston having a lower rate. The revenue raised will help fulfill state requirements to phase out water lines which bring lead into residents’ homes.

“The increase will support acceleration of federally and state-mandated lead service line replacements, water and sewer main rehabilitation, and stormwater management initiatives, including a new rebate program to reimburse homeowners that convert to an overhead sewer system,” Deignan said in an email to Pioneer Press.