MY TURN: Inflation and Idaho grocery taxes

I shop in the same stores and buy the same things month to month with rare exception. Much like many shoppers, I favor brands and products that serve our budget and our tastebuds. I am not likely to burn gas roaming around to save on tomato or egg purchases. Now that my former $50 per gas tank fill is $75, that is even less appealing. We live on simpler proteins, not a beef budget.

I keep my receipts for a year and have watched my coffee go from $8.99 to $13.49. Fresh orange juice has jumped from $3.99 to $5.49 in three months. Bad crops and price gouging anyone? The La Croix brand of flavored waters — not only has three months seen a $1.60 rise in price but a downsizing in packaging.

Tariffs on aluminum, costs of trucking, repackaging and maybe even some profiteering all see a 50% rise across everything from meat and cucumbers to medications and fresh produce. Labor costs have also hit hard as we sent out a labor force in the process of getting visas and citizenship.

The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) forecast an all-items inflation in the United States of 4.2% for 2026. That is counter to 2.7% projection by the FED as updated last week. I do not need to check with the FED to know that nothing is running 2.7% as I facilitate the building trades and have seen product costs more than double in the past five years.

The OECD with a global perspective recognizes that the longer Middle East conflict lasts and tariffs linger we can expect core inflation to sit at 2.8% (excluding food and energy). So, expect to watch that 2020 former $50 bag of groceries that are now $100 rise higher to $125 or more.

Meanwhile, the state of Idaho continues to stick a grocery tax on every food item at 6% and then turn around and give some back if you are paying attention on your taxes at $155 per annum. Seeing former SNAP shoppers paying 6% when they barely make $7.25 an hour is evidence of our cruel state taxing authority.

When you vote in November, ask what the governor and his cabinet intend to do to help not just the wealth class get richer but assist workers and retirees stretch their incomes. We gave $50 million to high income earners to fund private education for their kids and still tax the least able to tip the government 6% on every bite they consume.

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Lynn Fleming is a Coeur d'Alene resident.