MAHOMET, Ill. (WCIA) — Grocery taxes will be eliminated statewide next year, but some government offices within Illinois believe they shouldn’t be.

For this reason, Mahomet is voting to either keep or remove them. Mahomet Village Administrator Patrick Brown said if they lose out on this money, things could possibly look a lot different for them.

Some community members said they’re just hoping for the best.

“If I was honest, I was probably a little bit ambivalent,” said Andrew Powell. “I’m just a realist; some things just have to go up.”

Powell is one of many people in Mahomet who is on both sides of the field. Brown and his board will soon be deciding on whether they would like to remove or keep their grocery taxes.

“The idea here is it’s not a new tax imposed,” Brown said. “It’s just keeping the existing tax structure in place.”

This proposal comes after Governor JB Pritzker announced he’ll be eliminating the grocery tax statewide. It’ll go into effect January 1, 2026.

Now it’s up to cities, towns and villages to create their own ordinance. Brown said they’ll be losing out on $350,000 if they were to remove the tax.

“In the last few years, we’ve hired about a new police officer every year to kind of bring us the level that we need to manage today’s problems in law enforcement,” Brown said. “Without $350,000, if we saw a reduction, we would have to cut $350,000 somewhere else.”

He also said they want to keep the tax rate at 1%, but some people in the village like Powell said it’s only so much that can be done.

“I think about how it affects everyone in my life,” Powell said. “Obviously, I’m not looking to see things go up, but I’m also mindful that when I vote and I’m engaged in the local process, I have to also let go and trust the people that are empowered in these positions that are helping us in our town and trust that they’re striving to do the right thing for us.”

Another community member said taxes are already high enough, which is why he feels it isn’t a good move to keep the grocery tax. The village board will vote on the proposal on April 22.