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Hurricane Supplies Won't Get Tax Break

Tribune file photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER (2006)

Joe Cambridge of Tampa gets help from associates Jennifer Miles, left, and Joanie Flynn while shopping at Home Depot during the sales tax holiday in 2006.

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By JEROME R. STOCKFISCH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

Floridians are being urged to prepare for the hurricane season that begins Sunday, but this year, those stocking up on items such as plywood, tarps and flashlights won't get a break on sales taxes.

The reason: The state budget crunch led lawmakers this spring to reject the popular hurricane preparation sales tax holiday. The 12-day window in early June had been offered for the past three years to encourage early-season readiness.

The $66.2 billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 slashed $4 billion from education, health care, public safety and other areas. Forgiving the sales tax for 12 days would reduce state revenue by an estimated $12.3 million, economic analysts said, and lawmakers decided the state just couldn't afford it.

Legislation to authorize another popular tax holiday - erasing the sales tax on back-to-school purchases in the fall - also was killed this year.

The decision not to approve the tax holidays is not sitting well with retailers, who insist that such consumer incentives stimulate spending and actually create more tax revenue for the state as shoppers add items to their carts that aren't exempt.

"We're disappointed that the Legislature did not or does not understand the stimulus effect of these limited sales tax relief periods," said Rick McAllister, head of the Florida Retail Federation. "We contend that sales tax collections do not go down by the number they calculate every year; they actually go up."

The Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimates that Floridians would have spent about $230 million during the 12-day holiday. Shoppers would not have had to pay the 6 percent state tax or the additional 1 percent many counties tack on as a local option.

"We think it'll hurt our sales a little bit, absolutely," said Jeffrey Gawel, director of operations for 11 Vision Ace Hardware stores in the Tampa Bay area. "It seems like the sales tax week always brought people in for the stuff."

Gawel and McAllister said they fear that the lack of a sales tax holiday, and its accompanying publicity, will discourage early-season preparation. The result could be a rush on stores as a storm is approaching.

"When it's three days out, the shelves will be empty," McAllister said. "That's what we're trying to avoid. It's just a really bad situation when we get rushed and can't fulfill the needs."

Stores are expected to join state disaster officials in rallying residents to prepare.

Spokesmen from Home Depot and Lowe's home improvement stores said they will be promoting readiness.

"Retailers being retailers, they're going to have specials, sales and promotions," McAllister said. "They're competing for that consumer."

Reporter Jerome R. Stockfisch can be reached at (813) 259-8402 or jstockfisch@tampatrib.com.

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