Florida Tax Holiday on Hurricane Supplies this weekend

Florida has a tax holiday this weekend on hurricane supplies, that includes most general purpose batteries.

Re: Batteries, including rechargeable batteries, listed sizes only (excluding automobile and boat batteries): AA-cell, C-cell, D-cell, 6-volt, 9-volt.

The size AAA is excluded. :shakehead
I don't know what the reason was behind that logic, but I just sent an email to my State representative requesting the AAA batteries be included in next year's bill.

One of my trusted lights, that sits within arms reach when I'm in bed, uses a AAA battery. It's the one I grab first when the power goes off late at night, and it's not uncommon for the power to go out even with the upgrades the power company says it is installing.

Thanks for the reminder. I should probably buy a case of bottled water, or two. I live on a lake and have Sawyer/Life Straw filters here, so I'm not too worried about it and I'm good on batteries, lanterns and lights.

For some reason, I'm itching to own a chainsaw, so I might go to HD, or Lowes and take a look.

Chris

The biggest issue is the price cap. For most items this means that only the cheap crap that I wouldn't trust is tax free.

I was at Publix and was going to buy some AAA lithium primary batteries. After I found out AAA's were not 'blessed', I told them to keep the batteries. Someone, or maybe a few, in Tallahassee need to be better informed. It's not the money but the principle of the matter.
Those lithium primary are good for 20 years of storage...

It does seem odd that AAA batteries are not included. AAA is not as desirable for emergency as some other batteries but they are available in lithium chemistry and that makes them better than most alkalines IMO. You also have to consider the number of 3XAAA lights now flooding the market that will be used by the general consumer. Excluding AAA batteries doesn't make any sense.

ZMZ67 said:

It does seem odd that AAA batteries are not included. AAA is not as desirable for emergency as some other batteries but they are available in lithium chemistry and that makes them better than most alkalines IMO. You also have to consider the number of 3XAAA lights now flooding the market that will be used by the general consumer. Excluding AAA batteries doesn't make any sense.

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Honestly, if $1.40's worth of tax on a $20 40 pack of quality AAAs is going to make, or break you, then you have bigger problems.

It's 7% here in Miami and 6% in Broward County, so you should already have this stuff in place.

But all it takes is 5 minutes of news 2-3 days before a hurricane strike, to see that people don't do much in the way of prepping. I never feel sorry for them.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

Honestly, if $1.40's worth of tax on a $20 40 pack of quality AAAs is going to make, or break you, then you have bigger problems.

It's 7% here in Miami and 6% in Broward County, so you should already have this stuff in place.

But all it takes is 5 minutes of news 2-3 days before a hurricane strike, to see that people don't do much in the way of prepping. I never feel sorry for them.

Chris

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Like ajl posted it is not the money but the principle of the matter. I can't believe very many people would bypass supplies due to tax but if they are providing a tax holiday for batteries why not AAA ? Most of us can blow off a few dollars in tax but there are people who still have to account for each dollar. Those are the individuals who might count on that tax holiday to restock for the season. Maybe there is a valid reason for the omission but with the number of devices that use AAAs it just seems off to me.

Note to self:
Do not move to a place that has a "get your hurricane survival gear tax-less" 2 weeks before the beginning of the annual hurricane season....

Wait, wasn't Florida supposed to be under water by now?

I think anything done at a county/state level to promote preparedness is a good thing, flaws and all. Especially if it saves a few bucks. :thumbsup: The AAA thing makes no sense though.

ChrisGarrett said:

Honestly, if $1.40's worth of tax on a $20 40 pack of quality AAAs is going to make, or break you, then you have bigger problems.

It's 7% here in Miami and 6% in Broward County, so you should already have this stuff in place.

But all it takes is 5 minutes of news 2-3 days before a hurricane strike, to see that people don't do much in the way of prepping. I never feel sorry for them.

Chris

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The best price I found was $6.95 at battery Junction for a four pack of Energizer AAA lithium's. And that is very cheap for those batteries compared to big box stores.

So 40 of those would be about $70.00 or $100.00 plus at some places I've seen. I guess you are talking about alkaline. Still only $7.00 in tax, or a pink slime meal from McDonald's. LOL.