The Elgin City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to replace the state’s 1% grocery tax with a local tax. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com

Following the lead of hundreds of other communities in the state, Elgin City Council members gave preliminary approval Wednesday to replace the state’s 1% grocery tax with an equal local tax.

They’ll dedicate the estimated $1.2 million in revenue to lead service line replacement.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law last year repealing the 1% statewide grocery tax, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The law allows cities to enact their own grocery tax to maintain the status quo.

Council person Diana Alfaro said that according to the latest data from the Illinois Municipal League, 513 other municipalities had adopted a local grocery tax.

She said the city fa

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