To the editor:

I was raised in Hutchinson and have shopped at Dillons stores all my life. The new Dillons at 23rd and Iowa is close to us and has lots of great stuff. I looked forward to shopping there. We shopped there once, but we won’t be going back and I want to let others know why. When we looked at the receipt, we saw that they charged 10.85% tax on nonfood items and 4.350% tax on food. That extra tax is thanks to the 2.5% sales tax for a Community Improvement District that the Lawrence City Commission approved for all businesses at the KU Crossing at 23rd and Iowa.

The price of groceries is already too high. I knew there would be some extra tax on nonfood items, but I didn’t think it would apply to food. This extra tax on food is outrageous. There should be an exemption from the extra tax for food.

The normal sales tax for Lawrence is 9.3%. Here are the other areas in Lawrence that have an added tax, along with the amount and the date it went into effect. We need to push back on future additional taxes put on us by the Lawrence City Commission.

Lawrence Ninth & New Hampshire: 10.350%.

Lawrence Free State: 10.350%.

Lawrence Oread: 10.350%.

Lawrence The Crossing (23rd and Iowa): 10.850%.

Thelma Simons,

Lawrence