Jackson, Town Plaza to take part in green sales tax holiday

Only one city and special district in Cape Girardeau County are going to participate in a sales tax holiday next week.

The Show Me Green sales tax holiday exempts the sale of Energy Star-labeled appliances costing less than $1,500 from state sales tax. Jackson and the Town Plaza Community Improvement District in Cape Girardeau are among Missouri's cities, counties and special districts that are participating.

Other area cities participating include Dexter, Mo., Perryville, Mo., and Ste. Genevieve, Mo. All participated when the tax holiday was first held in 2009.

The holiday will save consumers at least 4.225 percent off purchases of qualifying appliances from April 19 to 25. In addition, participating cities, counties and districts will waive their sales taxes -- 1.5 percent in Jackson, 1 percent in the Town Plaza district.

Qualifying appliances for the exemption are clothes washers, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps. Appliances not eligible for the exemption include clothes dryers, trash compactors, conventional ovens, ranges and stoves.

Jackson city administrator Jim Roach said the city opted to participate again this year because of the economic and environmental benefits.

"This is an opportunity for customers here and out of town to come and get some savings on tax money spent on certain appliances," Roach said. "We won't lose money because for some reason, while we may not get that city sales tax revenue, people may be more inclined to purchase other appliances or items that don't qualify.

"And any way we can do our part to help conserve energy is a good thing," Roach said. "It's good for the economy, good for the consumer and good for the environment."

In 2009, nine counties, 58 cities and eight special districts took part in the holiday. This year eight counties, 51 cities and 12 special districts will participate.

Marble Hill participated in 2009 but elected not to take part this year. Marble Hill city administrative assistant Gary Shrum said aldermen decided that since so few businesses offered the appliances, not taking part was a good decision.

"Most of that particular business goes to Cape Girardeau and Jackson anyway, though a town our size participating wouldn't have amounted to much of a loss in revenue," Shrum said. "With the economy the way it is, I wonder how much cities who do participate could stand to lose in revenue."

Dr. Bruce Domazlicky, director of the Center for Economic and Business Research at Southeast Missouri State University, said he is not surprised slightly fewer cities are participating in this year's tax holiday.

"As to how effective these programs are, it is difficult to say," Domazlicky said. "By effectively reducing the price by 4.225 percent, the amount of the state's sales tax, at the margin, it probably does cause some people to purchase qualified goods who might not otherwise do so.

"Beyond that, there is likely some shifting in time in purchases as people time their purchase of a qualified good to be within the eligible period," he said. "Cities such as Jackson that do participate may find they experience a greater uptick in such purchases. Their hope, I suspect, is that people who might come to their city to purchase a qualified good will also choose to purchase other goods at the same time."

Cape Girardeau city manager Scott Meyer said the lost sales tax revenue was the main reason the city chose not to participate in the green sales tax holiday. However, Meyer said the city council later this year may revisit whether it will opt out of the August back-to-school sales tax holiday. The city did not participate in that holiday for the first time in 2009.

Roach expects the Jackson Board of Aldermen will once again vote not to opt out this year. Jackson has participated in the holiday it began in 2004.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson city officials said the state does not track how much sales tax revenue is generated or lost on a specific weekend.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent addresses:

101 Court St., Jackson, MO

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO