WASHINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — Local communities are grappling with how to address the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from the state grocery tax. The Illinois General Assembly repealed the one percent grocery tax in the budget for fiscal year 2025, but community leaders have more than a year to figure out […]
MORTON – Not all the business news from COVID-19 pandemic-plagued 2020 was bleak.
The village of Morton received 3.8% more sales tax revenue from the state during 2020 than it did in 2019.
The exact figures, according to Village Administrator Julie Smick, were $4,436,796 in revenue in 2020 compared to $4,273,140 in 2019, an increase of $163,656. Other nearby communities, meanwhile, saw small dips in their revenue.
Business adaptability was key to keep revenue flowing
So how was this feat achieved? In large part because of never-say-die small business owners like Keely LeTourneau and Carol Davis. It s very simple. We wouldn t have survived if we stayed stagnant. We had to adapt, or fail, said LeTourneau, owner of Sucre Sweets and Socials at 321 S. First Ave.
MORTON Only about 2% of the calls the Morton Fire Department responds to are in the Groveland Fire Protection District.
But when district officials asked Dec. 7 for a reduction in the annual amount the district pays the village of Morton for fire and emergency medical services, citing financial shortfalls, the officials got some heat from the Village Board. This isn t the village s problem, said trustee Steve Leitch, who suggested the district put a tax increase referendum on the ballot. We shouldn t subsidize them, said trustee Ken Newman.
Trustees voted 5-1 against the district s proposal to trim its annual payment to the village from 92.5% to 80% of its property tax revenue, about a $4,000 reduction in 2021. Only trustee Brad Menold supported the proposal.