Pueblo flower shop owner says new retail delivery fee is going to affect sales

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)-- As of June 1, 2022, retailers are required to charge, collect and remit a new delivery fee. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, that cost is being passed down to customers.

Retailers licensed to make sales in Colorado must collect a $0.27 retail delivery fee on every retail sale delivered by motor vehicle. The customer is responsible for paying the fee, but the business owner is responsible for paying the department of revenue.

This new tax comes from Senate Bill 21-260. The document states, "The business purpose of the enterprise is to support the widespread adoption of electric motor vehicles."

The money made from this tax will go to transportation infrastructure, including electronic vehicle charging stations throughout the state, to incentivize people to use electric cars.

The Colorado Department of Revenue did not respond to KRDO to comment on the new tax.

Types of impacted businesses include, but are not limited to:

• Restaurants that deliver
• Grocery stores that deliver
• Flower delivery services
• Sales that require delivery
• Online stores that ship orders
• Business to business retail sales (excluding wholesale items)

Gracie Clementi, the owner of P.S. I Love you Flowers and Gifts in Pueblo, said she already feels like the store does not meet the profit margins they're supposed to due to inflation. Now, she doesn't know how customers will handle another fee.

"It's hard to add onto consumers 'cause they're hurting now anyway with gas prices and grocery prices, so I think we're just going to have to keep our end down, and our profit margins are going to go down for now until we see how people can handle it," Clementi said. "The consumer can't handle a lot of price increases, it will affect us up to some point."

Still, Clementi said she will try to keep the prices down to ensure customers can afford to deliver flowers if they need to.

"I guess we will just have to work with what we get handed, you know, and try to do our best to keep our customers still happy and coming in and not overpricing things where they can't buy anymore."

She said the delivery fee does not sound like a lot of money, but she knows customers will start noticing the increases in delivery costs for all businesses.