PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. – Peoria Heights Mayor Matt Wigginton says he intends to veto a one-percent grocery tax enacted by the Village Board.
The Village Board voted 5-1 in favor of the tax during a departmental meeting September 2. The tax goes into effect January 1 and is a tax that has been approved by other area communities.
January 1 is when a state-imposed one-percent grocery tax will end. Local governments have had the authority to impose their own tax to replace it.
Wigginton took to Facebook Friday to say he will formally inform the Board in writing of his decision to veto during its next regular meeting this Tuesday.
“The Federal and state governments specifically recognize this in Peoria Heights in that 100% of our public school children receive free breakfast and free lunch,” Wigginton wrote. “I cannot, in good conscience, sign a bill that would tax their dinner table.”
Wigginton claims the grocery tax is a regressive tax and would take a larger share of income “from working families, seniors with fixed incomes and those living paycheck to paycheck.”
Additionally, Wigginton claims vetoing the grocery tax will give the Village a competitive advantage in luring new grocers, “something I am actively pursuing.”
“September marks National Hunger Action Month and on this matter, I believe I must act,” Wigginton wrote. “I have the utmost respect for my colleagues on the Village Board of Trustees but I must act to protect household essentials from new taxes.”
Wigginton said the Mayor’s Office has had the authority to veto all ordinances approved by the Village Board since the 1914 Municipal Code, and he finds no occasion where a mayor has done that.
“As the 26th mayor of Peoria Heights, I do not take this unprecedented action lightly, Wigginton wrote.
“I know we can and we will balance our budget without balancing it off the backs of families at the grocery checkout.”
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