The city of Gardendale will give shoppers a tax break before school starts.

The Gardendale City Council voted Monday to participate in the annual “sales tax holiday” Aug. 6-8, where shoppers will not pay municipal sales taxes or use taxes on certain items.

“Last year was the first time we did this in Gardendale,” said Mayor Othell Phillips. “We had positive feedback from shoppers and from merchants, who said they benefitted from increased sales.”

The tax holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 6 and ends at midnight on Aug. 8.

Tax-exempt items include, in part: Clothing costing $100 or less per article; computers, software and school computer supplies (storage media, electronic schedulers that are not cell phones, personal digital assistants that are not cell phones, printers and printer supplies) with a single-purchase sales price of $750 or less; school supplies, school art supplies and instructional material with a sales price of $50 or less per item; and books with a sales price of $30 or less per book (not including magazines, newspapers or periodicals).

In other business, the council:

• held a public hearing for violations of weed control ordinance and approved having the property mowed and assessing a lien against the properties

• agreed to renew an agreement with L.P. Campbell Company to provide grant consulting services. Phillips said the city has received $350,000 this year from grants written by the company.

The Gardendale City Council meets the first and third Monday of each month, 6 p.m., at Gardendale City Hall.