Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees
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GODFREY – Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick once again cast a tie-breaking vote to raise the village’s sales tax rate at this week’s Village Board meeting.
Trustees cast a tied 3-3 vote on an ordinance amending the village’s previously approved sales tax rate increase from 0.75% to 1%. The newly approved measure will bring Godfrey’s total sales tax rate to 7.85%.
Voting in favor of the increase were Trustees Sarah Woodman, Karen MacAtee, and Gerard Fischer. Those opposed included Trustees Rick Lauschke, Mike Fisher, and Craig Lombardi.
Godfrey was the only municipality in the Riverbend not to pass an ordinance replacing a state-level 1% sales tax on groceries with its own locally collected grocery tax. Supporters of the measure said raising the sales tax rate instead of imposing the grocery tax would more fairly share the increased cost burden between residents and visitors.
While Village Board members did vote on Sept. 2, 2025 to impose a 1% grocery tax in Godfrey, Mayor Mike McCormick promptly vetoed it the next day. Trustees then failed to override his veto in a 3-3 vote at a subsequent meeting.
At this week’s meeting, McCormick said the new 0.25% increase is meant to “offset some of the stuff that Springfield is taking away from municipalities,” referring to changes in the recently signed Illinois state budget for Fiscal Year 2027 to a fund shared with units of local government.
The Illinois state budget for Fiscal Year 2027 calls for a reduction in the percentage of tax dollars set aside for the Local Government Distributive Fund, which divides state income tax proceeds among units of local government. The current set-aside rate of 6.47% will be lowered to 6.28%.
An Economic Outlook and Revenue Forecast contained within the state budget shows deposits into the Local Government Distributive Fund are expected to hold “flat” across Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027 at $317 million each. However, critics such as State Representative Kevin Schmidt have said keeping the funding “flat” may lead to higher taxes as communities face rising costs elsewhere.
A full recording of the June 16, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
