Taxed to the max

right here in our very own South Loop restaurants

08/25/2011 3:50 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

3 Comments - Add Your Comment


Chart, Illinois Restaurant Association

I don't know why I never took sufficient notice of this. Was I in denial? I remember hearing something about it here. And there. Now. And then. But when I happened to eat at a South Loop neighborhood sushi place on Tuesday and at a neighborhood Chinese place--in a friend's far northside neighborhood--on Wednesday and just happened to notice the full percentage point difference in tax on the bills, it hit me: I'm being super-taxed for patronizing restaurants in the 'hood.


We in the South Loop aren't the only ones. Anyone who lives in the full-fledged downtown area and goes out to eat close by has to pay the extra one percent restaurant tax. As do West Loopers, Gold Coasters, some Pilsen residents--and Lincoln Parkers/Lakeviewites, at least up to Surf Street on the north. The Stevenson is the south boundary and Ashland is the west boundary.

It's the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority that collects the tax on all restaurant sales in the MPEA district.

This is what the MPEA does:

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) is a municipal corporation created by the Illinois General Assembly. Its Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago.

MPEA owns McCormick Place and seeks to promote and operate conventions, fairs and expositions in the Chicago area, in an effort to strengthen the local economy. Historic Navy Pier is also owned by MPEA and the Authority is charged with carrying out the recreational, commercial and cultural redevelopment and operation of Navy Pier, which has become Chicago's most popular visitor attraction.


MPEA is also active in the community, and oversees a variety of programs that positively impact the thousands whose jobs are tied to McCormick Place and Navy Pier, as well as the millions who visit both venues each year. Take a look at our contributions and then plan to visit acclaimed McCormick Place and multi-faceted Navy Pier in the near future.

Is this fair? Why should we South Loopers--not to mention the other neighborhoods near downtown--have to pay extra for restaurant food? What exactly are we getting that other Chicago residents don't get that we have to pay an extra tax?


3 Comments - Add Your Comment



By wes from Lakeview Northwest, Ravenswood
Posted: 09/29/2011 7:13 PM

Great story, though so few care about how enormous this MPEA territory really is. 1) Please publish a map of the MPEA 1% added tax zone so Chicago residents can easily save a dollar for every $100 they spend on coffee, doughnuts, drinks, restaurant and fast food joints within the the MPEA \'zone\'. It adds up. 2) Such will help our most diversified neighborhood restaurants thrive. 3)Encourage all to double check tax on their bills. Every cell phone as a calculator. 4) Keep up the great reports


By Bonnie McGrath from South Loop
Posted: 08/26/2011 6:32 PM

But Hud, what about the people who dine beyond surf, ashland and the stevenson??? aren't they presumably getting the same benefits, on average? how come they don't have to chip in?


By Hud Englehart from Lincoln Park
Posted: 08/26/2011 5:12 AM

What are you getting? How about $8.0 billion in economic impact that MPEA generates in Chicago as it hosts conventions and visitors. That's a much better ROI than anything we get out of Springfield or our property taxes!