Grocery tax to remain in place in Princeton

Princeton will keep its 1% sales tax on groceries after the state passed legislation that would eliminate the tax in 2026.

The Princeton City Council passed Jan. 6 a final reading of the ordinance. City Manager Theresa Wittenauer said in December while it is challenging to figure out how much Princeton would stand to lose in funds if it were to allow the 1% sales tax on groceries to be repealed, the Illinois Municipal League completed a comparative study with similar sized communities and figured the loss for cities such as Princeton would be about $350,000 to $400,000 annually.

Officials have said collecting revenue from sales tax allows the city to benefit from people who live outside of Princeton, not just property owners.