Dalton board approves municipal grocery retailer tax ordinance

Dalton trustees on Aug. 4 voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance 25-007, which implements a municipal grocery retaileroccupational tax and a municipal grocery services occupational tax for the Village of Dalton.

The ordinance transfers collection authority for a grocery tax provision that had been in the Illinois state budget to the village, beginning after the state-level measure was removed. Trustee Kiana Belcher moved for approval; Trustee Brittany Norwood seconded. The roll call vote was unanimous.

Trustee Belcher told the board that the state removed the grocery tax from its budget and that municipalities were being given the option of continuing the levy locally. She said the change would not raise the total tax burden on Dalton shoppers because the amount previously collected by the state would simply be collected by the municipality instead. No resident-facing rate change was announced during the meeting.

The action came during a meeting that included public comments about local services, street conditions and other priorities. Board members did not attach a specific implementation timeline in public discussion; the clerk recorded the ordinance number and the vote.

The board did not take separate action at the meeting to change retail licensing or merchant collection procedures; such administrative steps would follow the ordinance.

Trustee Belcher said the October deadline for local decisions on the tax is approaching and described the adoption as aligning Dalton with other municipalities that plan to assume local collection responsibilities.

The ordinance passed by voice and roll call; no motions to postpone or amend were raised in the meeting minutes. Additional administrative rules and implementation details were not specified during the public session.