Local hike on Springfield hotels ups rate to second highest in state
[September 03, 2026]
(The Center Square) – A new tax set to be imposed will
soon make hotel rooms in Springfield the second-most taxed in the state,
behind the city of Chicago.
Debate over the new tax saw economic development pit against a burden
the tax could place on the local hotel industry.
A new 3% hotel tax passed by the Sangamon County Board on Tuesday is
planned to fund an expansion of the publicly owned Bank of Springfield
Center, which the county hopes to break ground on in the fall of 2027.
The expansion would cost $60 million and add additional square footage
and features to draw more conventions and events to the city.
The tax’s passing means the combined tax on a hotel room in Springfield,
including state tax, will rise to 16.64%, the second highest in the
state behind Chicago.
Hotel industry advocates both locally and statewide opposed the board
passing the tax without looking further into the impact the tax might
have.
Board member Tony DelGiorno, representing part of Springfield, spoke in
favor of the resolution Tuesday, noting he thought anything to improve
the downtown was better than inaction.
“Try to improve our lives and the lives of our children and give them
opportunities. Construction jobs, educational opportunities, a new tax
base so that our property taxes can actually be, I don't know, lowered a
little bit,” DelGiorno said. “So I call upon all of my colleagues here
to think about the future.”
Construction trades groups and unions also expressed support for the tax
increase due to the major development that would result.
Caitlin Rydinsky, area director of sales for Ambridge Hospitality,
argued the tax could have a reverse impact from what’s intended.
“If the goal is to increase occupancy, raising taxes on visitors that
does the opposite, the idea that a new 3% tax is not going to support
what you're looking for in the Midwest market. Springfield is not
Chicago,” Rydinsky said.
Rydinsky noted the new tax rate would be high compared to major
metropolitan areas around the country.
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The Sangamon County Complex is shown in Springfield, Illinois.
Photo: Greg Bishop / The Center Square
“But we don't look at just Illinois with this 3% tax. We are the
highest among the entire nation. Chicago, 17.64%, Houston 17%, San
Francisco 16%, Anaheim 15%, New York 14% plus additional fees,”
Rydinsky said. “Are we competing against those markets?”
The new tax comes as the Illinois House didn’t take up a bill in the
final hours of the spring legislative session from Sen. Doris
Turner, D-Springfield, that would create a Capital Area Tourism
Authority.
The authority would assist in financing the expansion project,
alongside a new hotel at the cost of roughly $140 million.
If the General Assembly passes Turner’s bill before the county takes
on debt for the project that would require the extra tax income, the
county’s resolution allows the tax to be lowered or eliminated.
Turner told The Center Square after the spring session her
legislation would be beneficial for the city if passed this fall.
“The legislation that I have pending, as well as the development of
the Y-block, is definitely an investment in downtown Springfield
that has the possibility of bringing dividends over and over and
over again,” Turner said, referring to state plans to build a new $4
million park downtown.
The state and county are also renovating the county courthouse
complex and connecting it to a new intermodal transportation station
just across the street from the BOS center.
Turner’s bill would need a concurrence vote in November to be sent
to the governor’s desk.
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