UPDATE 1/23/2020 @ 9:10 a.m.

Kentucky House Representative John Sims Jr. (D-Flemingsburg) withdrew House Bill 28 from consideration on Tuesday.

The bill would have raised sales tax up to eight percent.

ORIGINAL STORY 1/20/2020

For Kentucky consumers, there's a possibility that shopping might be a little more expensive in a little over a year.

Rep. John Sims Jr. (D-Flemingsburg) is sponsoring a bill that would raise sales tax to eight percent starting January 2021. If it passes, it would be the first sales tax increase since 1990.

The bill would also raise personal property tax to six percent and motor vehicle usage tax up to eight percent.

Small business owners in eastern Kentucky say that the increase in sales tax, along with a possible minimum wage increase that is also making its way through the Kentucky House of Representatives, could really hurt them.

“If you come here and we raise prices, the people who buy product off us have to raise prices and then what's to say that the person they're selling to isn't just going to order off line from somewhere that's not as expensive,” said Corey Stinson, who works at Tri-State Vinyl and Supplies in Greenup County. “So it's just going to hurt the local small businesses in the area.”

The house bill has been referred to the Kentucky House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.