“GRA and you, together we make retail work.”

2nd Notice - Legislative ALERT!!!! - Local Collection of Sales Tax Issue Resurfaces
RETAIL SALES EDGE UPWARD
RETAIL THEFT UP
GEORGIA’S PERSONAL TAXES RISE AS PROPERTY TAX CREDITS END
FOOD SAFETY BILL GETS APPROVAL FROM U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE
QUOTE TO PONDER

Local Collection of Sales Tax Issue Resurfaces

The House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee will hear testimony on June 26th on the local collection of sales tax revenue. Committee members will hear from an Alabama firm about privatizing sales tax collections here in Georgia.

If you haven’t already done so, would you please let committee members know that it is a bad idea to collect sales taxes at the county level. For a copy of the testimony which I have already sent to members of the committee please link to:
http://www.georgiaretail.org/governmentaffairs/documents/LocalCollectionofSalesTaxTestimony.pdf


Please contact members of House Budget & Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee

Retail Sales Edge Upward

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.5 percent in May, ending two months of declines and marking the largest increase since sales surged by 1.7 percent in January (following six straight months of decline).

The May advance in sales could be another signal that the worst of the recession is over. However, the all-important consumer sector is not expected to come roaring back, given all the troubles facing households as the country slogs through the worst recession in decades.

The 0.5 percent May increase followed two straight declines including an April drop of 0.2 percent, which was originally estimated as a larger 0.4 percent fall.

Auto sales rose by 0.5 percent last month, the best showing since a 2.7 percent surge in January. Even with the gain, sales are still 21.5 percent below where they were a year ago as automakers continue to struggle with the worst sales environment in decades.

Excluding autos, retail sales were up 0.5 percent in May, better than the 0.2 percent gain that economists had been expecting.

However, much of that strength, came from a 3.6 percent jump in sales at gasoline service stations, an increase which reflected in large part rising gasoline prices. The retail sales are not adjusted for inflation.

Sales were also up at hardware stores, grocery stores and health stores.

Those gains helped to offset a 0.2 percent drop at general merchandise stores, a category which includes department stores and big retail chains.

The International Council of Shopping Centers reported that overall same-store sales fell 4.6 percent, worse than the 3 percent drop predicted.

Many analysts predict the economy is sinking at a pace of between 1 and 3 percent in the current quarter. If they are right, that would mark a big moderation from the steep declines seen since last fall. The economy shrank at a pace of 6.3 percent in the final quarter of last year, and by 5.7 percent in the first three months of this year. It marked the worst six-month performance in 50 years.

Retail Theft Up

The latest National Retail Security Survey, released on June 17, 2009 showed that retail shrinkage averaged 1.52 percent of retail sales in 2008, up from 1.44 percent in 2007. According to the survey, total retail losses increased last year to $36.5 billion, up from $34.8 billion in 2007.

“The increase in shrink levels signifies that criminals have found a way to manipulate and corrupt the retail industry,” said Dr. Richard Hollinger, from the University of Florida lead author of the report and professor of criminology at the University of Florida. “Many retailers are being forced to decrease their current expenditures because of the state of the economy and the cut back in consumer spending, which leaves new opportunities for thieves to take advantage of companies.”

According to the survey, the majority of retail shrinkage last year was due to employee theft, at $15.9 billion, which represented almost half of losses (44%). The survey found that 14 percent of those cases involved collusion with outsiders. Shoplifting accounted for $12.7 billion (35%) of losses. Other losses included administrative error ($5.4 billion and 15% of shrinkage) and vendor fraud ($1.4 billion and 4% of shrinkage).

As retailers fight shoplifting and employee theft, they remain focused on losses from organized retail crime rings. According to an organized retail crime survey, released June 10, 92 percent of retailers were victims of organized retail crime in the last year and nearly three-fourths (73%) say the problem is worsening. 21 percent of retailers have an organized retail crime task force dedicated to monitoring, tracking and apprehending criminal gangs.

Personal Taxes Rise As Property Tax Credits End

Most Georgia homeowners will pay more property taxes in 2010 because they're not likely to continue receiving a state tax credit on their bills. The Georgia Legislature this year voted to end a 10-year-old program that used state revenues to offset a share of local property taxes. Lawmakers said the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant could come back when the budget crisis is over and state revenues improve.

Food Safety Bill Gets Approval From House Committee

H.R. 759, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009 which would give the FDA more money and power to protect the food supply has won approval from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill calls for food-making facilities to pay a $500 annual inspection fee and gives the FDA more power to order food recalls.

The bill comes in response to deadly outbreaks of illnesses traced to tainted spinach, peanuts, hot peppers and other foods. It is designed to plug holes in the regulation of most food items other than meat.

The FDA has been under fire for its inability to prevent food-poisoning cases, quickly trace them to their source or find the causes.

The legislation would give the FDA authority to order food recalls, impose new civil penalties and require companies to follow food-safety standards. It also would require the agency to inspect so-called high-risk food facilities at least once a year and make companies keep detailed records to help the FDA more quickly trace the distribution of tainted foods and track the course of the contamination.

To help fund the work, the bill would require some 378,000 food facilities, including 223,000 overseas, to pay an annual registration fee of $500. The legislation exempts farms that raise meat and poultry and other facilities regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


QUOTE TO PONDER

“There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." Jim Hightower, political activist, columnist

Thank you,

John C. Heavener, MSM, CAE
President, Georgia Retail Association

For More Information Contact:
johnh@georgiaretail.org
Telephone – 770-484-3449, ext. 21
Toll Free - (877) 427-3824
Fax – 770-484-5727
www.georgiaretail.org

About GRA: The Georgia Retail Association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, and grocery stores has been serving the state’s business community since 1961. The Georgia Retail Association represents an industry with more than 71,300 retail establishments, and more than 715,000 employees - about one in five of Georgia’s workers – with annual sales of more than $115 billion.

Printer Friendly CRR June 19, 2009