Since DeKalb City Council’s decision to increase the sales tax, merchants have mixed thoughts on how it may affect sales.

DeKalb’s sales tax increase from 7.5 percent to 8 percent is among other increases in Illinois. In January of this year, Sycamore increased its sales tax from 7 percent to 7.5 percent.

As tax rates grow from county to county, merchants fear buyers will become more selective based on sales tax.

“It hurts DeKalb merchants and encourages people to go shop in Sycamore,” said Becky Beck, owner of Becky Beck’s Jewelry, 303 E. Hillcrest Drive.

Beck said her store’s uniqueness separates it from other stores that could be affected by the tax.

Franchises that have stores in both Sycamore and DeKalb are most likely to see a change.

Eye Deal Optical, 130 1/2 E. Lincoln Highway, is another example of a store that may not be as affected by the increase since the store does not directly charge taxes for each sale but still pays a lump sum every month.

Rose Swanberg, owner of Eye Deal Optical, does not think her store will be affected.

While the tax hike is expected to raise $1.8 million, there is still a chance the city could lose revenue if they lose business over the tax.

Mike Kisluk, owner of Mattress Warehouse of DeKalb, 2211 Sycamore Road, questioned the effectiveness of the tax.

“They might be pricing themselves out of the market by raising taxes,” Kisluk said. “I don’t think it will raise money.”

Kisluk said some of his customers from as close as the West Chicago area are surprised by how much the tax is in DeKalb.

Kisluk was also concerned that he had not received or heard anything about public input for or against the increase.

John Wright, owner of Wright’s Jewelry, 124 E. Lincoln Highway, agrees raising taxes does not help sales and said the city has gone too far.

“This is the most upset I’ve ever been with the city,” Wright said.

Wright argued that the economy is already in bad shape with people buying less and less.

Wright said people will probably continue shopping at the shopping center on Route 23 (Sycamore Road).

Even if DeKalb raises the amount of revenue needed, Wright said he doubts the sales tax will go down.

Beck said once taxes go up, they stay that way.

“I’ve never seen any kind of tax go down,” she said.