The status of a possible local grocery tax in Peoria Heights remains undetermined after Mayor Matt Wigginton vetoed authorization ahead of this week’s village board meeting.
Earlier this month, trustees voted 5-1 in favor of adopting a 1% municipal grocery tax to replace the state tax that’s set to expire on Jan. 1.
“I had been pretty crystal clear when I ran for mayor, in every interview and article that I have done, that I was not in favor of reinstating a 1% grocery tax,” said Wigginton, who does not have a board vote except to break a tie.
Wigginton said as the ordinance sat on his desk, he just could not sign it. He said as far as he can tell, he’s the first mayor in village history to use his veto power.
“I do still have a tremendous amount of respect for my colleagues who saw it the other way; all of us are doing what we think is best for the village,” Wigginton told WCBU. “They had their reasoning for voting the way they did, and we just came down on a, you know, different side of this issue.”
At the urging of Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois lawmakers approved eliminating the 1% state grocery tax as of Jan. 1. Revenue from that tax is being collected by the state and returned to local governing bodies.
Municipalities were given the option to implement their own tax to make up the funding gap. Several Tri-County communities did so, including Peoria, Washington, Pekin, Morton and East Peoria.
“Our demographics here in Peoria Heights are a little bit different. We have a very in-need community,” said Wigginton. “We have a lot of people that live paycheck to paycheck, seniors on fixed incomes. Faced with those kind of demographics, I think that getting rid of the tax makes a lot of sense.
“One of the things is that, by definition, this is a ‘regressive’ tax. And so what that means is for the necessities of life at the grocery store, it just takes a larger portion of their budget to pay for those things.”
Wigginton, who announced his veto on social media, will notify the board of action veto in writing, with a formal announcement during Tuesday’s village board meeting. The board can override his veto with a two-thirds vote, but Wigginton said that vote won’t take place at the earliest until the following board meeting on Oct. 7.
That effectively means Peoria Heights will not be able to enact a local grocery tax on Jan. 1, because the state’s deadline for municipalities to file a local grocery tax ordinance is Oct. 1. Wigginton said if the board does override his veto, the tax would likely take effect mid-year.
Estimates project Peoria Heights would lose about $125,000 in annual tax revenue without the grocery tax. Wigginton said he’s not sure how accurate that figure is, considering the village will lose the Save A Lot store after its lease expires in March.
“I’m trying everything I can to try to entice a grocer back to Peoria Heights to fill that void, and grocery stores are notorious in that they operate on very small margins,” he said. “So, if I can make a grocery store be 1% potentially more profitable than our neighboring communities, I think that gives me a competitive advantage to try to entice a grocery store back to Peoria Heights.”
Wigginton said Peoria Heights received about $138,500 in grocery revenue from the state in 2023. He said he’s confident the village can maintain a budget balance without a grocery tax.
“We have lived without the grocery tax before. Gov. Pritzker, during COVID, did a moratorium on the grocery tax for a year, and not only did Peoria Heights survive, we thrived,” he said.
Brandon Wisenburg was the lone trustee to vote against the grocery tax at the Sept. 2 meeting.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m on the wall of the Alamo. But $125,000 is not a loss to the village of Peoria Heights,” he said at the time. “If we institute this tax, it’s a $125,000 loss to the citizens of Peoria Heights. Money is best left in the pockets of our families.”
However, trustee Nathan Steinwedel said the lost revenue would leave a gap in the city finances.
“If we do get rid of this tax, we will have to make up the money somewhere with the projects that we have coming up,” he said. “We’ve got the water infrastructure projects, water treatment facility. We’ve got the fire department that is growing, and we’ve got a nighttime population that is growing that we do have to address with some additional costs within the next few years.”
Wigginton said he’s hopeful some of his trustees will reverse their positions and allow his veto to stand.
“I really do hope that maybe they take this opportunity to speak with some of the constituents that I’ve spoken with and recognize that this was not a popular tax,” he said. “I think that some savings at the grocery checkout line is completely appropriate.”
