Cortland to Let Grocery Tax Expire With State’s End to Collection

CORTLAND – The Cortland Board of Trustees voted to let the town’s 1% grocery tax expire at the end of this year, following the state’s decision to eliminate its own tax on most off-site food purchases. The state had paused the grocery tax during 2022 and 2023 before reinstating it and later deciding to end it permanently. Currently, the state collects the tax and shares the revenue with local governments, but that will stop on Jan. 1, 2026. Cities and towns still have the option to impose their own version of the tax.