It looks like Mt. Carmel property owners won’t be paying higher real estate taxes for the new city pool after all. Last year, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker eliminated the state’s 1% grocery tax that had been returned to municipalities. The Governor gave cities the right to not only reinstitute the tax on groceries but all other goods as well.
At their regular meeting yesterday, the city council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would place a 1% sales tax on everything sold in the corporate limits of Mt. Carmel with the exception of gas and vehicles. Mayor Joe Judge said the trade off for the new tax is one property owners will like…
The additional 1% will bring Mt. Carmel’s sales tax to 8.25%, which Judge said is still lower than many in southern Illinois including Olney and Harrisburg where the rate is 8.75%; Carbondale’s is 11.75%; Marion and Benton are at 9.5%; and Grayville is also at 8.25%.
The mayor said the city will soon benefit from increased sales tax receipts with the opening of the new cannabis outlet this Spring in Mt. Carmel.
The council is expected to hear the second reading of the ordinance and adopt it at their next meeting in two weeks.