Editorial: Tax-free weekend an opportunity you can't pass up

By: Editorial | Opelika Auburn News
Published: August 01, 2008

If residents in Lee and Chambers counties haven’t purchased school supplies or school clothes for their children, this is the weekend to do it.

Alabama’s third annual sales tax holiday, which lasts from 12:01 a.m. today through midnight Sunday, promises to bring shoppers to area stores by the droves.

Notebooks, paper, pencils, erasers, computer supplies, backpacks, clothes, etc. Your kids will need them, and this three-day holiday allows consumers to purchase them without paying state and local sales taxes.

The savings? Depends on how much a family purchases. It is estimated that families across the South will spend an average of more than $600 on back-to-school related items, according to the Alabama Retail Association. Sounds like a lot, but when kids are getting new clothes with a few school supplies thrown in, it adds up. This is also a perfect opportunity to shop for clothes, period, whether or not your child will wear them to school.

Other good news is families no longer have to drive all the way to Columbus, Ga., or Montgomery for shopping. With a load of new stores in Auburn and Opelika, people will be flocking into this area — spending money in our stores, having lunch in our restaurants, fueling their cars at our gas stations. That’s a win-win situation for the local economy and a potential financial windfall for local merchants.

Considering the economic crunch we’re facing and high gas prices we must endure, it makes economic sense for families to take advantage of this tax break.

It makes no sense to wait until the last minute, or even after school begins, to shop for school clothes or supplies when consumers have the perfect opportunity to save money right here.

People can’t be forced to take advantage of a good opportunity when it’s thrust directly into their path.

If families prefer to be stewards of local and state tax dollars and school-shop after the sale is over, that’s their prerogative.

Our state leaders designed this tax-free weekend as a gift to the good people of Alabama to help them better afford school supplies, and it’s a gesture that should not go unappreciated.
It’s an opportunity for parents to save money. It’s an opportunity for merchants to make money.

Don’t let opportunities like this pass.