Blog

 In an effort to help local parents save money when purchasing back-to-school supplies, clothes and computers for their children, the City of Hazelwood is again partnering with the state of Missouri for this year’s Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday during the weekend of August 3-5.

In addition to getting a break on the state sales tax (4.225%), consumers won’t be charged the 2.5% local sales tax, 1% tax for the Transportation Development District at St. Louis Mills, or the 1.7% sales tax for St. Louis County when they make back-to-school purchases at retail establishments in Hazelwood.

Items that are exempt from state/local sales taxes on Aug. 3-5 in Hazelwood include:

• Clothing (any article having a taxable value of $100 or less)
• School supplies (not to exceed $50 per purchase)
• Personal computers (not to exceed $3,500)
• Computer software (taxable value of $350 or less)
• Computer peripheral devices (not to exceed $3,500)

“With the sluggish economy and many people still out of work, we want to help parents stretch their spending dollars so they can afford to equip their kids with the supplies, clothes and electronics needed for the new school year,” said Mayor Matthew Robinson, City of Hazelwood.  “Students who start school with the right tools usually perform better in the classroom.”

According to a recent PriceGrabber survey, most parents are budgeting $500 or more for back-to-school shopping this year.  Sixty-three percent said they were budgeting up to $500 for school-related gear (up from 48 percent last year), while 20 percent said they had between $500 and $1,000 set aside for back-to-school purchases.

–

The allocation of money for electronics explains the rise in back-to-school budgets.  At least 40 percent of the PriceGrabber survey respondents plan to purchase new laptops and tablet computers for their kids.  Twenty-eight percent said they were looking to buy some sort of smartphone, and 10 percent had their eye on a new desktop computer.

However, classic school supplies like pencils and pens, notebooks, binders and backpacks still dominate the “must-have” list, with 83 percent of those surveyed saying these items would be their main purchases. But the bargains are often found away from big-box and office supply stores.  Places like Walgreens and the Dollar Store in Hazelwood also offer special deals.  In addition, St. Louis Mills is the ideal destination for shoppers on a budget who need to buy uniforms, stylish clothes and shoes for their school-bound children.  Some of the major stores to check out include Marshall’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Cabela’s, Gap Outlet, Levi’s Outlet, Old Navy, Tommy Hilfiger Company Store, Guess Factory Store, Banana Republic Factory Store, Forever 21, and the Nike Factory Store just to name a few.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us