The 10-Cent Grocery ‘Fee’ Coming to a Checkout Near You — And Where the Money Actually Goes

The next time you pack your groceries in Mankato, Minnesota, the clerk might ask for an extra dime.

Advocates from Mankato Zero Waste and Beyond Plastics Greater Mankato Area asked the City Council to consider a surcharge of as much as 10 cents on every checkout bag, according to the U.S. Sun.

Since the presentation landed at a council work session rather than a regular meeting, officials could not take formal action. This is a citizen proposal, not an adopted or scheduled ordinance.

A bag surcharge is not a sales tax. It is a flat per-bag fee collected at the register, and the money does not go to the state.

The Mankato plan would split the dime, with about 4 cents kept by retailers to cover administrative costs and the remainder going to the city.

Three Minnesota cities already do a version of this.

Edina and Duluth each charge 5 cents for a single-use carryout bag, Duluth since October 2021, Edina since the summer of 2024.

In Edina, businesses reported collecting about $124,000 during 2025, according to a city compliance report, and stores keep the revenue.

Minneapolis has also had a 5-cent fee per carryout bag in effect since 2020, with enforcement beginning October 2021.

Mankato’s version would likely exempt the handle-free bags in the produce, bakery and meat departments, along with pharmacy and dry-cleaning bags. That is why “for all grocery customers” overstates how the rule would work at the checkout counter.

More than 200 US cities and counties and about a dozen states have bag fees or outright bans, per Mankato Zero Waste.