Evanston retailers may soon get a break from an unlikely source — the Village of Skokie.
The Village Board is in the midst of approving a plan that would imposed an extra 1% sales tax on purchases made at the Westfield Old Orchard mall starting July 1.
The money raised would go to the shopping center owner to fund capital improvements at the center which the village is declaring to be “blighted” under terms of a state statute.
Depending on how much a shopper spends, the new tax could offset the benefit of free parking at the the mall and making paying for parking to shop in Evanston just a little more attractive.
This is a bad time for them to be raising taxes with the price of things already going way up. It just shows how out of touch they are
Old Orchard Mall which has a Rolex authorized dealer, Tiffany and Apple stores is blighted!? And we have to subsidize the owners!? Only in ‘Merica!
What does taxes at Old Orchard have to do with shopping in Evanston? The choices are not the same. The walkability is not the same. The convenience is not the same. It has never once crossed my mind to go to OO instead of Evanston, or vice versa based on Parking or Sales Tax. They are completely different shopping experiences.