WBHM Politics: When Retailers Close, Taxes Go Too

Andrew Yeager | March 1, 2018

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When you buy something at a store, that sticker price is not all you pay. There’s sales tax added on top. In Alabama, a portion goes to the state and a portion goes to local governments. For a small town with a big retailer, that can be major source of revenue. But when stores close, it can mean a hit to city coffers. It’s what happened in Fairfield when a Walmart closed in 2016. Irondale faces a similar situation after Sam’s Club announced in January it would shutter a store there.

We discuss how smaller cities and towns cope when a significant source of tax dollars disappears with Fairfield City Councilman Eddie Penny, Irondale Mayor Charles Moore and research analyst Megan Randall with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Listen here or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play or NPR One.