Skokie residents may soon see their Netflix binges and Spotify-powered commutes to work come with a higher price tag.
During their May 18 Village Board meeting, Skokie trustees advanced an ordinance that will introduce a 5% tax on digital streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and Apple Music, among others. The ordinance will also raise the village’s entertainment tax, called the “amusement” tax, from 2% to 5%, and that will apply to admission costs for theater, shows, sports events and other in-person entertainment.
The surcharge is slated to fund a fourth ambulance for the village during “high demand, peak hours,” several times a week, Julian Prendi, Skokie’s finance director, said at the May 18 meeting.
It will also finance projected costs for additional permitting and inspection services, Prendi added.
“The revenues projected for this coming year were sufficient to cover the existing [Village] services as presented before the Board for fiscal 2027,” Prendi said, but “strategic enhancement in services did, however, require new revenue.”
The projected 5% streaming service fee would average to an extra $3 per month on a $60 monthly subscription bill (the nationwide average), or $36 per year, Prendi told the Board on May 18.
Netflix monthly subscription fees in the U.S. range from $8.99 per month for a standard account with ads, to $26.99 per month for a premium account without them.
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Skokie residents using a single streaming service like Netflix can expect to pay an additional $1.35 per month on a premium subscription, or less if they have a standard subscription.
The 3% uptick in the Village’s general amusement tax would result in about a 46-cent increase on an average movie ticket, Prendi added.
The current 2% village amusement tax, originally introduced in 2019, is applied on the entry fees to all forms of discretionary entertainment, like going to the movie theater, watching a play or musical, visiting an amusement park or attending a sporting event.
Revenue from these sources has depleted in recent years following the pandemic and a widespread shift to streaming in place of traditional cable subscriptions, Prendi said.
Cable providers are required by either state or local law to enter into franchise agreements with municipalities, which allows them to collect an up to 5% fee to fund public services, according to Skokie Village Manager John Lockerby.
But profits from these franchise fees have notably declined. FY2025 generated more than $300,000 less than 10 years prior, with an average annual decline of 3%, according to a Village finance memorandum.
Meanwhile, research conducted by several nonprofit groups estimates that 83% of U.S. adults and almost 91% of all U.S. households subscribe to at least one type of streaming service per month.
Introducing a tax on these skyrocketing services made the most sense, Prendi added.
Residents can expect to see the added surcharge on their streaming bill as early as Aug. 1, if approved for adoption at the next Village Board meeting on June 1.
“This is not a fee on something that people have to have, like garbage services,” Trustee Gail Schechter voiced in defense of the tax hike.
“This is an elective thing and it’s not going to hit lower income residents.”
Skokie Mayor Ann Tennes added that it’s “noteworthy that this increased tax will be applied to tickets sold at the North Shore Center,” which the village owns, she added.
“We’re part of this, we’re not just levying this on others and it’s going to be assessed on tickets sold at a venue we own,” Tennes said.
The amusement surcharge and extension to streaming is projected to fully finance the estimated $1,065,000 cost of the added ambulance and permitting and inspection service enhancements for FY27 and beyond, according to Prendi.
Introducing a 5% amusement surcharge would still be below the neighboring municipality average of 5.38%, even if marginally, Prendi said.
While streaming service taxes are less common, the City of Evanston and Chicago have both introduced these fees for residents (5% in Evanston and 10.25% in Chicago, respectively).
According to the finance memorandum, Riverside, East Dundee and Wheeling have also introduced a 5% streaming charge for residents.
“The amusement tax that we have had has been in decline in its revenue, now we’ve got an opportunity of bringing this up substantially,” Trustee Jim Iverson said at the May 18 meeting.
The surcharge comes in the wake of additional tax increases in Skokie for FY26, including a property tax increase “just under 5%,” Tennes said at her State of the Village address at Capital Grille in Skokie earlier this month.
This adds up to an additional $21 for the average Skokie household, $57 for commercial properties and $137 for industrial properties, according to Tennes.
Typical Skokie property taxes currently sit at $645 per year, or $54 per month for a single-family household.
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are 10.25% on general retail merchandise purchases (plus an additional 1% on purchases in the Old Orchard business district), 7.25% on motor vehicle purchases, 7.5% on hotel stays, 2.25% on food and drugs, 2% on liquor, in addition to the existing 2% amusement tax. There is also a five-cent a gallon gasoline tax.Following little discussion, the Board unanimously approved the amusement and added streaming surcharge on May 18.
The ordinance will return for a second reading and adoption at the next scheduled Board meeting on Monday, June 1.