New Uber fees and other Chicago hikes in 2026
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While Chicagoans have avoided new garbage and grocery charges this year, several fees and taxes did jump.
Here's what you need to know:
🗾 Rideshare surcharges: Uber and Lyft riders will be slapped with congestion fees in a broader area of town starting this month. From 6am to 10pm every day, single riders in the newly expanded congestion zones pay an additional $1.50, while shared riders will pay an extra 60 cents on weekdays.
- The main zone now runs along the lake from Foster down to 31st Street but as far west as Western Avenue in some spots.
- And, sorry UChicago students, a separate South Side zone runs from Hyde Park Boulevard to 60th Street and Cottage Grove to the lake.
🏚️ Property taxes: Despite promises to hold firm on property tax levies, city leaders quietly passed small new increases in late December. The City Council approved a $9 million bump to fund libraries and the Chicago Board of Education upped its levy by $40 million on Dec. 29.
- The two boosts are expected to cost the average homeowner roughly $11 extra a year.
🛍️ Grocery bags: If you forget to bring your own bag to large retailers, a paper or plastic bag will now cost 15 cents, up from 10 cents.
🍾 Retail liquor: You'll pay an additional 1.5% tax on booze you buy at a store starting in March.
🚗 Taking a toll: That jaunt to Indiana on the Skyway has jumped from $7.80 to $8.10 this year.
👀 What we're watching: If and how much the recent Peoples Gas $202 million hike proposal will boost local bills.
- If U.S. Senate Republicans follow the House in extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that could return ACA premiums to previous levels instead rising to by predicted 78%.
- How much energy bills will rise with the expansion of data centers in our region and continued delays in renewable energy connections to the grid.