Lake Bluff panel leans to retain municipal grocery tax, delay 0.25% home‑rule sales increase

Lake Bluff trustees on Sept. 29 signaled they will maintain the village’s municipal grocery retailers’ tax option for now and postpone a decision about a proposed 0.25 percentage‑point increase in the village’s home‑rule sales tax.

The Committee of the Whole reviewed input from the Village’s business advisory committee and finance staff and discussed revenue, equity and implementation constraints. The committee did not take a final vote to change tax policy at the Sept. 29 meeting; trustees said they plan to place a motion on the regular board agenda and could remove the grocery tax later if they decide to do so.

The matter moved onto the committee’s agenda after Deputy Village Clerk Drew Urban introduced the topic and summarized outreach to the business advisory committee, which recommended retaining the grocery tax. “The unanimous recommendation from that group was to support a maintenance of the grocery tax,” Drew Urban said.

Bettina O’Connell,…