Tax free weekend shopping

There are 17 states that provide a tax-free weekend for back to school shopping and surprisingly California isn’t one of them.

Why surprising? Because the U.S. Census Bureau ranked California as the 17th state with the highest poverty rate at 15 percent in 2015. However, last September Forbes magazine reported a newer comprehensive report that factors in cost-of-living, which states California’s true poverty rate is 20.6 percent — the highest in the nation.

So, it’s surprising the state hasn’t provided a tax-free weekend of back to school shopping to help those working-class families receive some relief at the cash register.

The tax-free weekend of shopping isn’t a unified effort by a group or organization; it’s simply a trend some states offer where shoppers don’t pay state sales tax on specific items ranging from clothes, school supplies, books, laptops and more.

The California Budget & Policy Center (CBPC), formed in 1995 to provide Californians with a source of information on state fiscal and economic policy issues, reported in 2012 that the Imperial County was among the highest poverty-stricken areas of the state.

Imperial County had a poverty rate of 23 percent. The 2012 report is the most recent report the CBPC has published and dates from 2008 to 2012.

Only four counties in the state had a higher poverty rate than the Imperial County.

Also for the Imperial County, the median household income is $41,079 according to website DataUSA, which uses information from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Only the cities of Calexico and El Centro currently have an increased retail sales tax of 8.25 percent. The rest of the county requires a 7.75 percent sales tax.

The state as a whole mandates a 7.25 percent sales tax as well.

We reached out to our Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia and Senator Ben Hueso to see if they would lead a state-effort to provide a tax-free weekend for back to school shopping.

“Sales tax holidays are a great idea, that I would encourage our local cities and counties to seriously consider. When done correctly, as part of a focused, strategic effort, this could be an effective tool to spur economic development and bring some much needed relief to families struggling to prepare their children for school,” said Garcia in a statement. “From the state’s perspective, I am fully committed to exploring all avenues to assist economically underserved areas, like those in my district.”

All of our cities have stores that need our local monetary support and we feel a tax-free, back-to-school shopping weekend would help encourage our local shoppers to shop locally, not outside of the Valley.

We encourage our county, El Centro and Calexico elected officials to consider such an event, if not for this school year, but for next year and beyond.