The Board of Trustees for the Village of Arlington Heights has voted to enact a tax on streaming amusement services to fund a new fifth ambulance service in the Village. The 5% tax could generate new revenues of up to $480,000 per year according to Village of Arlington Heights’ estimates and would replace the revenue lost from taxpayers opting to “cut the cord” with cable and moving to streaming services instead. “Streaming amusement” is defined by The Village of Arlington Heights as, “any video streaming, audio streaming, or remotely accessed online games made available to persons on a rental or subscription basis”. This excludes purchases that include rights of permanent use. The Village highlighted the streaming tax as the most viable option to fund the fifth ambulance, which currently is needed due to significant increases in ambulance service calls.
Streaming service providers doing business in Illinois will need to be aware of the rollout of this tax and ensure they are correctly charging villagers who use their services. Taxpayers should be aware of tax changes in their localities such as this where their local government is trying to offer new or enhanced services by an expansion of the tax base or rate increases to fund local government needs. (Village of Arlington Heights Streaming Amusement Tax Ordinance. Ordinance No 2025-41, passed August 18, 2025, by the Board of Trustees)