Starting today, the MD Comptroller’s office has kicked off Shop Maryland Week, during which qualifying apparel and footwear $100 or less are exempt from the Maryland 6% sales tax. The event is expected to stimulate local retail business and offer an opportunity to pass minor savings onto those attempting to clothe their families.
In an unprecedented move, Baltimore City Council members convened in an emergency session this Monday evening to pass an emergency 6% local sales tax on purchases of all qualifying apparel and footwear totaling $100 or less. The unique bill, which was simultaneously introduced, unanimously sponsored, and voted through all three reader phases in one hour, is expected to net the city around $300,000 over the course of the week.
Councilwoman Helen Holton, who penned the bill on a cocktail napkin early Monday morning, stated “This bill will save literally tens of jobs and preserve the level of public safety and services that the citizens of Baltimore have come to expect and appreciate. The state’s loss over the course of this week will be balanced out by this emergency measure. We’re helping.”
The bill is not without controversy, however. Opponents of the bill – retailers, cashiers and members of Stop The Baltimore City Tax Free Shopping Week Tax – have spent roughly $20M on print campaigns, television ads and radio spots encouraging citizens to leave Baltimore City and shop elsewhere in the state. STBCTFSWT representative Bill Billerson, a former manager at Hecht’s, issued the following statement:
Whether or not this emergency tax passed by the city will have a positive impact on the city’s retail economy remains to be seen; however, for the next week or so those Adidas tennies are going to cost just about the same.
Brilliant. If it weren’t for the napkin comment, I woulda believed it was actually true. Everyone knows Holton wipes her mouth with her dreads.