Several shoppers along Euclid Avenue weren't aware of the sales tax increase Monday afternoon. Many walked in and out of a downtown drug store without a glance at their sales receipt. One shopper said he knew that the Cuyahoga County Commissioners voted on the tax hike this summer and he doesn't agree with their decision.
Customer: I don't like it at all. It goes back to taxation without representation. We have no voice in the matter what so ever. And the unemployment rate in Cleveland is off the chain.
The customer also noticed the tax rate hadn't been adjusted on his receipt. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation said the state will find out which businesses are enforcing the rate change when they turn in their monthly returns.
The county expects to collect $43 million a year with the increase. The convention center and medical mart deal is still in the works, but leaders of the Greater Cleveland Partnership say they'll select a site location by the end of the year.