CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Chicagoans will be paying more at the checkout counter under the city's 2025 budget, which increases the bag tax for retailers from seven cents to ten cents a bag.
And, retailers will now only be able to keep one cent from each bag versus the current two cents.
Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, says the bag tax was originally put in to cut down on pollution but that goal has not met expectations.
“There’s some data that’s been successful. There’s some data that has not been successful,” says Karr. “People, you see, reuse those bags sometimes for trash, sometimes for other things. So, it’s just been replaced by other plastic bag uses, so it’s really hard to say that it's been very clear.”
Karr says the increased bag tax will be a burden on consumers and retailers and could drive shoppers out of Chicago.
“Certainly, if retailers choose to do away with the plastic bags or bags of any kind, that does create another inconvenience for the consumer,” Karr says.
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