GODFREY – A proposal to raise Godfrey’s sales tax rate instead of replacing the Illinois sales tax on groceries aims to ease grocery costs for residents while boosting tax revenue from visitors.
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Village Engineer Rich Beran suggested raising the village’s sales tax by 0.5% at the June 17, 2025 Village Board meeting. This would effectively cut the sales tax on groceries in half from the state’s 1% grocery tax to the new 0.5% Godfrey sales tax, while raising the village’s sales tax on all other goods and services from 6.85% to 7.35%.
Beran said this strategy would be “the right combination to get the most for Godfrey residents.”
“More than half of Godfrey residents get their groceries locally, but then a lot of the sale tax revenue that’s generated, it’s mostly from outside – someone coming into Godfrey and doing some shopping,” Beran said. “Lowering the grocery tax would help the Godfrey residents, while increasing the sales tax would bring more revenue into the village.”
The additional 0.5% in sales tax revenue would not only make up for the estimated $800,000 in lost revenue from allowing the state grocery tax to expire in 2026, Beran said it would generate an additional $700,000 for the village. Under state statute, he said the money must go toward road, storm water, and other infrastructure improvements projects.
Beran emphasized that his proposal is merely in the discussion stage, and that any official change would first have to be approved by the Village Board at a future meeting. Stay tuned to Riverbender.com for the latest updates.
