JERSEYVILLE – Jerseyville is the latest Riverbend community to keep a sales tax on groceries in place after the state’s own grocery tax is set to expire in 2026.
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100% of the proceeds from the state’s 1% sales tax on groceries have gone directly to local municipalities since the state first imposed them in 1990. Faced with significant revenue loss, municipalities were given the option to pass their own ordinances imposing 1% sales taxes on groceries and grocery “services” within their communities.
Jerseyville officials first considered retaining the 1% grocery tax at the city level in April of 2025. According to a breakdown of city revenues contained within Jerseyville’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan, sales tax accounted for nearly 60% of intergovernmental revenues in 2024, amounting to over $3.5 million.
While the 1% grocery tax retention wouldn’t raise prices any further for consumers, it also wouldn’t lower them, effectively having a “net neutral” effect on grocery prices.
Jerseyville shoppers may not notice a difference in costs, but their grocery prices may remain slightly higher than other municipalities which allow the grocery tax to expire. However, a growing number of local communities are imposing their own grocery taxes as Edwardsville, Wood River, and more pass similar ordinances to offset the projected loss in sales tax revenue.
The Jerseyville City Council’s approval of the ordinance comes well in advance of the Oct. 1, 2025 deadline for the city to start collecting the tax on Jan. 1, 2026.
