FORT WORTH -- Dacia McClendon is a bit of a budget warrior.
The 31-year-old single mother of three purchases toilet paper by the 24-roll pack, rummages among clearance racks and scours the Sunday paper for coupons.
Last week, McClendon paid $37.84 for a pair of sneakers, then discovered a 20 percent-off coupon. She returned the Nikes and bought them again with the coupon, saving almost $8.
So when she learned that for three days next month, some clothing and shoes priced at less than $100 would be sales tax-free, she rearranged her plans.
"I was going to go [school shopping] Monday, but I think I'm just going to hold my money for the 6th, 7th and 8th," she said. "The tax that I save will put gas in my car for the whole week."
The state's first sales tax holiday -- a campaign promise by Gov. George W. Bush to give back tax money to Texas families -- is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 8. Most clothing and footwear priced less than $100 will be exempt from state and local sales taxes during the holiday.
That means, for example, if Fort Worth shoppers purchase three suits for $99.99 each during the three-day moratorium, they will not be assessed the $24.75 in sales tax that they would have paid at any other time of the year.
The sales tax holiday will cost Texas $10.5 million in 1999, $28.7 million in 2,000 and $30 million in 2001, according to the Texas comptroller of public accounts.
"The Legislature ... felt the state could afford this without cutting service," said Sheila Clancy, spokeswoman for the comptroller's office, the state agency responsible for handling sales taxes. "We're looking at it as a benefit to consumers."
The state will withhold sales taxes during the first weekend in August every year. However, local governments, are only required to participate in 1999. Local officials say they are closely monitoring its effect on their budgets.
Charles Boswell, assistant city manager for Fort Worth, said the strong economy will likely ward off any negative effect on the city's budget. But "if we were in tough economic times, this kind of move would hurt more."
Few area counties levy a sales tax.
Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson and Denton counties do not collect sales tax. Parker County levies .5 percent sales tax.
Clancy said the Legislature decided to make it mandatory the first year to give those cities and counties "an opportunity to see what was lost and decide if they can afford to offer the sales tax holiday in the future."
If all cities and counties that collect sales taxes participate through 2001, consumers will save $15.5 million, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander said.
During the tax-free sales days, most individual items of clothing and shoes -- children's and adults' -- priced under $100 will be sales tax free, regardless of the number of items purchased.
Not all back-to-school items will be tax free. The program does not cover supplies such as pencils, notebooks or backpacks.
Clancy said Bush's original proposal to exempt all school supplies was abandoned because it was too broad a category. An elementary school student's list of school items could include a "box of Kleenex, ball of yarn and package of glitter," she said.
Items priced at $100 or more will be fully taxed. In other words, if a customer purchases a pair of jeans for $110, all $110 will be taxed. There will be no exemption on the first $99.99.
The sales tax holiday greatly appealed to Dawn Haggard, a Fort Worth mother of three who had just purchased a pair of children's sneakers at Target for $3, more than half off of its original price of $7.88, yesterday.
"I'll be doing a whole lot of shopping that weekend," she said, grinning. "I'll probably be getting birthday present clothes."
McClendon is grateful for the tax holiday, regardless of how small the savings. She plans to outfit her 14-year-old daughter, a student at Dunbar High School; a 12-year-old daughter at Forest Oak Middle School, and a 9-year-old son at Eastland Elementary School.
Each will start the school year with a minimum of three new pairs of pants, two pairs of shorts, five to six shirts, six to 12 pairs of underwear, 14 pairs of socks, one pair of sneakers and a pair of casual shoes.
In Fort Worth, where the sales tax is 8.25 percent, McClendon can save $47.51, a conservative estimate based on her planned purchases.
" `That's pretty good. That's a water bill," said McClendon, a residential trainer for Tarrant County Mental Health-Mental Retardation Services.
"Can [Governor Bush] do this sales tax thing three times a year?" she asked. "That would be such a blessing to me. And I'm not sure just to me -- all single mothers and single fathers."
Bargain-hunter Bev Seale, 47, of Arlington said she plans to maximize her savings that weekend by purchasing items already on sale.
"I would do some shopping, but I probably wouldn't look at brand new beginning-of-the-season stuff," Seale said. "I would look at the end-of-spring clearance shirts, skirts or dresses."
The Texas program follows tax holidays granted in other states. New York has held five tax-free sales weeks since 1997 to deter frustrated New Yorkers from heading to New Jersey, where clothing is not taxed.
During the first weeklong holiday, which covered items under $500, retailers reported a 77 percent increase in sales, said Janel Patterson, spokeswoman for the New York City Economic Development Corp.
The next September, a second sales tax holiday was held on items under $100. Sales increased 48 percent, she said.
The break given to families at the cash register, however, is "kind of a false reduction because local governments" may have to make up for the lost revenue by increasing property taxes or decreasing spending, which affects services, Boswell said.
This year, Fort Worth sales taxes generated $66.5 million for the city; $30 million for the crime district and slightly more than $30 million for the T, the city's bus service.
Boswell and other area city officials said it is difficult to calculate losses due to the tax holiday because not all items will be tax-exempt. But he said he doesn't expect the loss to be too significant.
The holiday "is not going on long enough," Boswell said.
Mickey Moore, president of the Texas Retailers Association, a trade group representing about 1,500 businesses, said he expects Aug. 6-8 to be "a huge selling weekend.
"But we are concerned that a lot of retailers don't know about it yet," he said.
Several retailers appeared puzzled last week when asked if they were prepared for the sales tax holiday. Employees of Wal-Mart and Mervyn's California Department Stores said their national headquarters are preparing their registers to compute the sales tax exemptions.
"I wasn't even aware, and I keep up [with the news]," said Hamid Aziz, owner of Fame Men's Wear store in the Town Center Mall.
Clancy said the comptroller's office is relying on the media and their Web site -- http://www.window.state.tx.us -- to spread the word.
Seale expects the sales tax holiday to "really stimulate the economy.
"People will cross the state border to take part, from New Mexico and Oklahoma," she said. "I might rearrange my schedule for it."