The grocery tax will remain in effect in Industry.
At their August board meeting, trustees for the Village of Industry unanimously agreed to implement a one percent grocery tax. This will take effect January 1st and replace the current statewide one percent tax on groceries sold in municipalities, scheduled to be eliminated at the end of this year.
“I do want to be clear that you guys are not raising taxes,” Village Attorney Erin Wilson Laegeler told trustees. She said the new tax ordinance simply keeps the one percent tax on the books, rather than letting it expire.
The tax will apply to food sold in Industry’s gas station. This will provide some modest revenue but not as much as if Industry had a grocery store.
Wilson Laegeler was asked how much revenue the tax has been bringing to Industry. She said that because this tax isn’t separated out as a line item within the sales tax revenue Industry receives, she wasn’t able to give a specific dollar amount.
She hasn’t heard of any municipalities choosing to forego a voluntary one percent tax after the statewide tax ends. “Not to say that they don’t exist,” she said.
In other business, trustees discussed a possible increase to what residents pay for garbage service. Currently each household is billed $17.25 per month. This would go up to $20 per month in order to cover
old water t See Industry on page 4 ower (at left) will be removed soon.
what GFL, the garbage-service provider, is charging the village: $19.70 per month, according to Debbie Black, village treasurer. Trustees plan to vote on the price increase next month.
Trustees also unanimously approved purchase of a new phone for Tressa Wheeler for her new duties processing water bills each month. This will prevent her from having to use her own personal phone for the job. She recently stepped into the role after it was vacated by State Bank of Industry.
Finally, the new water tower has been built and painted but not yet filled with water. The old water tower is still standing and will be taken down soon.
