CHICAGO (WBBM)  -- Starting Tuesday, Chicago's sales tax becomes the highest in the nation, rising to 10.25 percent as Cook County imposes a 1 percent hike.

WBBM's Regine Schlesinger reports the increase applies to all general merchandise except food, medicine and cars.

Auto dealers are exempt from the new higher tax. Suzy Reingold at Napleton Northwestern Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge on Chicago's North Side says that's a blessing for car dealers already struggling with sluggish sales. In her words, "It would have been disastrous."

She says the amount of sales tax calculated on a car is based not on where the car is purchased but where the buyer lives.

The new higher tax does apply to car parts so if you take your car in for service and have to pay for a part, the extra 1 percent charged by Cook county will apply.