BELLEVILLE – Belleville is the latest Riverbend community to replace an expiring state-level sales tax on groceries with its own locally collected grocery tax.
At Monday’s meeting, City Council members unanimously approved a “motion to adopt the continuation of the 1% local grocery sales tax, to be effective as of Jan. 1, 2026 when the State of Illinois eliminates the imposition of the tax.”
First imposed in 1990, the state’s 1% sales tax on groceries is set to expire in 2026. 100% of the proceeds from the state grocery tax went directly to local municipalities; faced with revenue losses, communities were given the ability to pass their own local 1% grocery taxes to replace the state tax once it expires.
The resulting ordinance effectively has a neutral impact on grocery prices, since it replaces the state tax rather than adding a new local tax on top of it. With the City Council’s approval, the City of Belleville will begin collecting this 1% local grocery tax effective Jan. 1, 2026.
The item was approved without further discussion or debate. Belleville now joins other local communities which have passed similar grocery tax measures, including Alton, Jerseyville, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, and Wood River.
