Business
Getting to the Bottom Line in Cents vs Good Sense
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By Jeanie Barnett
Do you think it costs you more to shop in Central? Baton Rouge and Zachary have a sales tax rate of 9%. The sales tax rate within the City of Central is 9.5%, exactly the same as Baker and Watson. Within the city of Denham Springs, the sales tax is 9.5% or 10%. That means that your shopping receipt will reflect a one half of one percent difference when you shop in Central over Baton Rouge or Zachary, no difference from Baker or Watson, and you’d pay less than in some areas of Denham Springs.
For every $100 you spend in Central, a combined $4.50 of the sales tax goes to the City of Central and Central Community School System. If you were shopping in Baton Rouge, $4 would go to their City budget and school system. The 50¢ difference in the bottom line between Central and Baton Rouge goes to our schools. You can probably find that 50¢ under the seat of your car.
Speaking of cars; if your auto gets an average of 25 mpg (I wish mine did), you are spending over 13 cents a mile just for fuel. So, at today’s gas prices, you’d be able to go about 4 miles outside of Central and save money on a $100 shopping trip. Farther than that and you are spending more money on gas than you would save in sales tax.
This does not take into consideration other costs of owning, insuring and maintaining a vehicle. The IRS calculates 56.5¢ per mile as a deduction. Using that basis, if you want to save sales tax money on a $100 shopping trip, you’d have to walk out of Central.
So, if you think you’re saving money by going somewhere else to shop, get out your calculator and think again.
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