COLUMBUS – Families squeezed by rising prices are getting a break this weekend, courtesy of the State of Ohio’s annual sales tax holiday, which began at midnight Friday.
Until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, the clothing priced at $75 or less per item and school supplies and instructional materials costing $20 or less will be exempt from the state’s 5.75% sales tax.
Qualification for the exemption is determined item by item with no limit on the amount of the total purchase, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation.
In 2019, lawmakers established a permanent sales tax holiday on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of August each year.
According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $864 on school items this year, approximately $15 more than last year.
Columbus teachers a step closer to striking
Mere weeks before the scheduled start of the new school year, the union representing nearly 4,500 teachers, librarians, nurses, and other professionals in the Columbus City Schools voted Thursday night to authorize Columbus Education Association officials to file notice of an intent to strike.
Talks between the union and the state’s largest school district broke down over pay, health care coverage and other issues, including smaller class sizes, functional heating and air-conditioning in classrooms and a cap on the number of class periods during the school day,
“The vote tonight is a vote of confidence in our bargaining team and our fight for the safe, properly maintained, fully resourced schools Columbus students deserve,” union spokesperson Regina Fuentes said.
Under Ohio law, a public employee union is required to provide 10 days advance notice of its intention to engage in “any picketing, striking, or other concerted refusal to work.”
The union can file the notice with the State Employment Relations Board any time following the vote and a strike could commence as soon as 10 days after filing if union members approve it.