Clanton businesses may pick up some extra customers during the sales tax holiday on back-to-school items Aug. 7-9, possibly from residents of nearby towns not participating in the holiday.

Some of the smaller towns, such as Maplesville and Thorsby, do not have enough local businesses that would be affected by a tax break, so they opt not to participate, town leaders said.

“We don’t have very many businesses here in town that it would affect a lot, so we don’t do it,” Maplesville Town Clerk Sheila Haigler said.

Thorsby Mayor Dearl Hilyer echoed Haigler.

“I really don’t think it would affect anything,” Hilyer said. However, Hilyer said Thorsby wasn’t for sure abstaining from the sales tax holiday.

Jemison also will not participate for the same reason.

“We just never have,” said Mary Ellison, Jemison town clerk. “We don’t have that many businesses that sell school supplies.”

Ellison said she imagines people will buy their school supplies in Clanton, but she said Jemison does not expect to lose extra business over the weekend because people there typically go to Clanton to shop anyway.

The city of Clanton will once again exempt its shoppers from sales tax on back-to-school items.

“We have ever since the state started to do that,” Debbie Orange, Clanton city clerk, said.

Orange said she expects area vendors to be busy with locals buying school supplies, as well as with customers from the surrounding cities that are not participating in the tax holiday.

The annual tax-free holiday weekend began in 2006, and exempts shoppers from the 4 percent state sales tax on back-to-school items and allows counties and cities to decide individually whether to charge their sales tax or not.

Some of the items included in the sales tax holiday are basic school supplies, computers costing $750 or less, and basic items of clothing, including school uniforms, that cost $100 or less per item. For a complete list of tax-exempt supplies and exceptions, log on to ww.ador.state.al.us/salestax/salestaxhol.htm.