This morning the Jefferson County Commission voted 3-1 to opt out of this year’s back to school sales tax holiday, scheduled for August 7-9 (Commissioner Carns was not present for the vote). The commission says that the move would save the county approximately $200,000 and at least seven jobs. The Birmingham News posted a list of cities that will participate in this year’s holiday on Monday; Birmingham has announced that it will be participating this year. The repeal will only affect the collection of the state’s 2% worth of taxes, including the 1% educational tax.
It is interesting to note that yesterday was the deadline to notify whether or not cities or counties in the state would participate. You may also want to check out the list on the state department of revenue website to find out just what items are tax exempt during the holiday.
This morning Birmingham’s mayor, 
Birmingham Weekly 
Follow-up: Johnny Ray’s president joins the conversation
We’ve seen a great deal of traffic over the last few days with regard to our post about the future of Johnny Ray’s. We’re hoping that some of you have had a chance to read the comments. If not, you’ve missed out on something…
One person who we were happy to see respond to the comments was Alton Shields, the President and Managing Director of the Johnny Ray Cos, who was able to quiet rumors that the chain was closing.
We just wanted to take a moment and suggest that folks check out his comments and all of the other comments to all of the other posts on the site whenever and wherever they’re made.
Thanks those that do add their voices to this conversation.
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Posted in From the Stationmaster
Tagged AL, Alabama, Alton Shields, B'ham, Birmingham, changes, comments, follow-up, Johnny Ray's, opinions, restaurant, stationmaster, update