NORWICH — Starting March 1, 2022, the City of Norwich will begin charging sales tax on clothing purchases under $110.

This clothing tax, which the city was exempt from since approximately May of 2006 according to City of Norwich Director of Finance Dee DuFour, will be 1.5 percent of the item total, or 1.5 cents per dollar.

"In the city it'll be 1.5 [percent]. That'll be the difference because it still will be exempt in the state, and exempt in the county, so the city's portion is 1.5 percent," said DuFour.

During their monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 19, the City of Norwich common council voted to eliminate the sales tax exemption. This means articles of clothing, shoes, and some accessories sold within the city, or purchased online and shipped to the city, will be charged a sales tax, according to Alderman Robert Jeffrey.

"So believe it or not, the City of Norwich is one of the few municipalities in New York State that had the exemption. So we were one of the few municipalities that did not have tax on clothing under $110," said Jeffrey. "Jewelry is totally separate, so that's already been taxed. But if it's anything like shoes, obviously clothes, any accessories potentially, so like hats, scarves, slides, you know, flip flops, those would all be included under this."

The change will also effect online sales. Jeffrey explained that New York State would monitor the amount of tax charged to consumers within the city, and disperse those funds to the city on a monthly basis.