Johnsburg OKs local grocery tax

Budget also approved, including money for creek restoration study

A Johnsburg water tower is seen in a 2024 photo.

The Johnsburg Village Board has unanimously approved a 1% grocery tax, replacing the Illinois grocery tax set to end Jan. 1. Officials said the current grocery tax brings Johnsburg $405,000 a year, with a majority of that being from the Walmart on Route 31.

“We had the discussion about the 1% tax, if it would draw more business” to Johnsburg if it was not reinstated, Trustee James “J.D.” Sylvanus said. “It would not bring more people from McHenry or neighboring towns to offset $405,000.”

The grocery tax vote took place at the same meeting Tuesday night at which the board approved its 2026 budget, which includes $75,000 – half the total needed – toward a Dutch Creek restoration feasibility study.

The budget, also approved unanimously, calls for $6.6 million in revenue and expenditures in the coming year.

Johnsburg has been looking at the feasibility of restoring the creek and Dutch Creek Bay on the Fox River for at least the past 10 years, Village President Ed Hettermann said as he spoke in favor of including the study cost in the 2026 spending plan. He wanted to go ahead with the study now because, without it, finding other grants would be difficult.

“If we don’t do it now, it will probably never happen,” Hettermann said.

According to a village staff report, Johnsburg first approached the Army Corps of Engineers about a restoration project in 2014. The corps then did a first-phase study that determined the area was eligible for federal restoration funding.

The goal of any restoration is “to improve ecosystem quality in the project area; create habitat for fish, migratory birds and other wildlife; and to restore habitat within the vicinity of Dutch Creek,” according to the report.

Passive recreation, including walking trails, a canoe launch and shelters, also could be included as part of the final project, according to the report.

A complete feasibility study – necessary to receive any grant funds – costs $300,000, half of which the village is responsible for.

“The cost will be split over two fiscal years, as the study is expected to take 24 months to complete,” according to the report.

Some village trustees questioned what the benefit of a restored creek and bay is for Johnsburg.

“It is a lot of money for what we would get,” Trustee Scott Letzter said.

“What is the benefit of restoring a high-quality area that, if left alone, falls into disrepair and no one can do anything with it?” asked Tim Hartnett, the village’s public works consultant from HR Green.

Cleaning up the Fox River and Dutch Creek was, at least in part, why Johnsburg began treating sewage rather than having private septic systems lining the waterway. “We have 2½ miles with on-site septic adjacent to [the river],” Hartnett said.

Current estimates for a complete restoration are in the $4 million range, with Johnsburg responsible for 35% of that final cost. The funding, however, can include in-kind work and grant funding from sources other than the federal government.

But no grants will be available without the completed study, Hartnett said.

“If you don’t have that, you can’t submit” grant applications, he said.

Hettermann said he’d like to spend the first $75,000 for the study in the coming budget cycle and the other $75,000 in the next budget to get the study finished. He added that once it’s completed, the village can then decide what to do.

“If we can’t afford it, we can’t afford it,” he said.

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