Opinion: Strategies for Coping with Inflation and Sales Tax on Groceries

 

From Edgewater resident Karen Lipfert:

What changes have you made to cope with prices of necessities rising faster than your income?

• Eliminate cable TV.
• Cut back on subscriptions.
• Allow memberships to lapse.
• Wait to purchase a new cell phone.
• Eat out less often.

Here is another idea: purchase your groceries in a municipality that does not charge sales tax on groceries. Unlike Edgewater, Lakewood and Denver do not charge sales tax on groceries. Instead of shopping at the Edgewater King Soopers recently, I shopped at the store at Colfax and Quail in Lakewood and saved $3.75 on my $110.00 bill. This strategy will conservatively save a single person approximately $200.00 per year and the savings for a family of four will be significantly more.

The City of Edgewater can eliminate the sales tax on groceries with a regular action item at a city council meeting. During a recent conversation, Mayor Steve Conklin and City Manager Dan Maples seemed open to reviewing the ongoing need for the grocery sales tax.

Some Edgewater neighbors have voiced concerns that the loss of revenue will impact necessary city services. It is important to note that the City of Edgewater will save a substantial amount of money when the contractual sales tax rebates they pay to Target sunset in the coming months. Instead of keeping these savings, the city can make Edgewater more affordable. Lower income residents stand to benefit the most when there is no sales tax on groceries. The city will continue to collect sales tax on food purchased in restaurants, merchandise, and other consumer items.

It will help to have community support to encourage the City of Edgewater to seriously consider this proposed change. Please join me in making a public comment at an Edgewater City Council meeting. Upcoming meeting dates are April 2^nd, April 16^th, and May 7^th. Meetings start at 6:30 PM.

I welcome your feedback and encourage you to email me at edgewater07@gmail.com.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Edgewater Collective or the Edgewater Echo.