Which City Has the Nation’s Highest Sales Tax Rate?
Chicago is known as the Windy city and for good reason. However, thanks to a recent vote by Cook County commissioners, where Chicago calls home, it could now be called the tax city. That’s because Chicago, which already had a sales tax rate of 9.25 percent is jumping into the double digits after county commissioners voted to raise the sales tax rate by 1 percent, to a whopping 10.25 percent, which is the highest city rate in the entire country.
The new sales tax rate will take effect on January 1 of next year, and is expected to give the sales tax in the county a $474 million boost every year. Officials said they passed the increase proposal because they need the additional funds to help fix the pension system for Cook County employees. According to Cook County officials, there is already a shortage in the retirement of about $6.5 billion and the problem is getting worse every year, as it is reportedly increasing by $360 million annually.
With the increase, Chicago will now pass four counties in Alabama that all had sales tax rates of 10 percent, to become the city with the highest rate. Time will tell if the increased sales tax income will be enough to make a difference in the pension shortfall, but Chicago can now claim it’s number ranking for a rather dubious distinction.
Kollectiv AI
Late one night in San Francisco, long after his kids had gone to sleep, Andrey Akselrod sat at his desk staring at a small stack of papers that had come to define his year. They were hospital bills—simple on the surface, catastrophic in practice. The visit itself had lasted only 24 hours. The aftermath stretched…
The Great Estate & Gift Tax Showdown of 2026
1. Background Current Law (2025): As of 2025, the U.S. federal estate tax imposes a 40% tax on the value of estates and lifetime gifts exceeding a unified lifetime exemption of about $13.99 million per individual (double for a married couple using “portability”)[1]. This exemption – also applicable to the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax –…
Redefining Wealth With Purpose
How Brad Connors Is Redefining Wealth With Purpose From Tragedy to Triumph When Brad Connors speaks about financial purpose, he’s not reciting a corporate mantra—he’s reliving a lifetime of lessons. At just two years old, Connors lost his father in a car accident that also left him hospitalized with a collapsed lung. That tragedy, coupled…
Marc Henn on Building True Wealth: Beyond Portfolios and Toward Purpose
When Marc Henn launched Harvest Financial Advisors nearly two decades ago, he wasn’t trying to reinvent the financial-services wheel. He was trying to realign it. After more than 35 years in the industry, Henn had seen what he calls the “black marks” of the profession—transactional mindsets, one-off sales, and the steady erosion of authentic client…