COLUMBUS — It's that time of the year again, when school is almost back in session. As the new school year starts and class-bells ring, most families try to save a bit of money.

Ohio’s sales-tax holiday is underway and runs through Sunday, Aug. 6.

For next year, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a budget allocating $750 million to go toward a sales-tax holiday expansion.

Local economists say this weekend could be a short-term win for some working families. 

"It's kind of a short-term win that you can get on these small items for back to school purchases," said Daniel Karney, associate professor of economics, Ohio University.

Ohio’s tax-free holiday applies to clothing less than $75 per item, and individual school supplies that cost less than $20 per item. 

“I think that the evidence suggests that it is a benefit for the state,” Karney said. “In the sense that the citizens of the state get to purchase the things that they want and a larger quantity for going back to school.”

DeWine has previously said the revenue loss in terms of the tax holiday for 2024 cannot be estimated.

Right now, it is set-up to allow the tax commissioner and director of budget and management, and County Commissioners Association, to determine the length of the expansion with the $750 allotment. 

“I think the reason they’re doing it,” said Emeritus Professor of Economics, Robert Gitter of Ohio Wesleyan University, “they want to help people out because school supplies can be very, very expensive.” 

Next year, part of the plan is to expand the list of items that will be tax free.

“We had a lot of money in this big budget,” said Greg Lawson, research fellow at the Buckeye Institute. “So much money coming in, that what they were concerned about, what they were going to do ... because literally that billions of dollars above what they usually would have.” 

However, a researcher at Policy Matters Ohio believes the state could find a better way to give money back to Ohioans.

A revenue and special projects researcher Guillermo Bervejillo said the sales-tax holiday benefits the wealthy, and doesn’t provide much benefit to the working-class families. 

“They’ve given the people of Ohio some kind of crumbs, some kind of rebate,” Bervejillo said. “When at the end of the day, what’s happening is a bigger structural trend that is making taxes heavier on working class people and lighter on the wealthy.” 

Correction: The previous version of this story misspelled Daniel Karney's name and had the wrong university affiliation. This has been corrected. (Aug. 7, 2023)