When recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois in 2020, it seemed like an easy source of new revenue for local governments. DuPage County was among many that enacted a sales tax on cannabis.
But by mid-2021, officials there noticed they weren’t getting any of the new money.
The Illinois Department of Revenue said the county never notified it to collect the tax.
The county clerk said she sent notification, but there was no record of it. County officials estimate they lost some $3 million in 18 months.
Then a separate dispute arose in DuPage over $265,000 in clerk’s bills for election materials. County officials delayed payment, saying the bills didn’t comply with requirements — while the clerk replied that the county had no such authority over her.