Today and Saturday mark Iowa’s tenth annual Tax Freedom Weekend. Lyle Karre, general manager of the Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, says they’re making the weekend special for customers, with drawings for prizes, clowns and a variety of special events, like a baseball card show.
Karre says it’s a very popular weekend. "People started calling here probably in early June wondering when the tax free weekend is," Karre says. "It’s a feel-good weekend. They know the state is helping them out with their taxes for a couple of days." Karre says this weekend will be one of the year’s busiest for the mall.
He says, "Typically, this weekend will be the second-busiest weekend of the year, just kind of rivals right there with the first couple days after Thanksgiving." Shoppers will not be charged the seven-percent state sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than one-hundred dollars. Karre says many out-of-state cars will be packing the parking lots.
"There’s a certain amount of Nebraska people who shop here all the time because of the ease of the interstate but yet there are quite a few cars here from eastern Nebraska," he says. Karre says many of the stores are also offering huge sales to entice the shoppers.
While the event is geared toward back-to-school shopping, Karre says many adults also take advantage of the savings and stock up on work clothes.