Niles Businesses React To Sales Tax Hike

Niles business owners' reactions Thursday to the village's sales tax increase ranged from surprise to concern about losing sales. Others basically shrugged and said they weren't crazy about it but hoped the village was raising taxes for a good reason.

The Niles village board voted at its Tuesday meeting 0.25 percent (25 cents on a $100 purchase). 

Of the half-dozen Niles business owners Patch reached Thursday, none were aware the village was considering raising sales taxes. Iwona Filipiak, president of the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Chamber had not been formally informed, and planned to discuss the matter at its Feb. 14 board of directors meeting.

Earlier:

Some business owners noted the effective sales tax rate had just gone down.

That was because Cook County sales tax went down 0.25 percent on Jan. 1, according to county government spokeswoman Liane Jackson.

Thus, Niles sales tax stood at 9.5 percent on Dec. 31, but fell to 9.25 percent on Jan. 1. On July 1, when the Niles village tax increase takes effect, customers will again pay 9.5 percent tax on their purchases in the village.

"They give it and they take it away," observed Alan Zielinski, an owner of 7640 N. Milwaukee Avenue, which does kitchen and bath design and remodeling.

"When you have high-ticket items in the thousands, clients today are savvy," he said. "They compare prices on the internet."

Margaret Sherman, another owner, said that when Chicago's taxes reached their highest point, city residents bought kitchens in the suburbs.

Likewise, Jim Shaefges, whose family owns on Milwaukee Avenue, 9141 N. Milwaukee Avenue, said Cook County is already the most expensive county around to do business in.

"It's hard to sell high-end items here because someone may say 'I can buy it somewhere else for two percent less in taxes,'" he said. "I would like it if they (the village board) would explain what they're going to do with the money."

Joe Reichert, owner of , 8140 N. Milwaukee Avenue., said the tax will affect his business because he draws customers from the collar counties and around the state.

"So anything I can do to keep the total price lower is beneficial," he observed.

Krystyna Koda, whose florist and greenhouse business , 6569 N. Milwaukee Avenue, is only a block from Chicago, noted the new Niles tax is still lower than city tax.

While customers won't like the increase, she predicted they'll get used to it.

"Of course we don't want to pay taxes, nobody wants to, but the village has to pay its bills just like we have to pay our bills," she said philosophically. "Niles is a beautiful community, it does a good job."

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