Fee added to purchases made at Walmart in new Durbin Park shopping center

A new development in St. Johns County promises to bring more shopping options, but there is a price to pay.

The Pavilion at Durbin Park sits inside a community development district, and all the stores in that district have to charge a .5 percent fee on all sales.

“It’s kind of nice to have a Walmart that’s nice like this in our area,” shopper Laura Gross said.

It comes with a price, though.

“I guess it’s kind of a perk in being in the area and having what we need,” shopper Lauren Gonzalez said.

It’s a relatively small price that shoppers now have to pay, so small that shoppers said they didn’t even notice the extra fee until they pulled out their receipt.

“I didn’t know, first time seeing this,” shopper Mickey Basic said.

It’s a 0.5-percent public infrastructure fee on top of the county sales tax.

“It’s only half of a penny, so we will deal with it,” Gross said.

The developers of the shopping plaza, Gatlin Development Company, said it is a district-implemented fee.

It’s to help pay for things like the sewer, utilities and road work on the site.

“Half a penny, it doesn’t really make a big impact. It kind of makes sense if they had to put in extra to put in the community,” shopper Jessica Holmes said.

In Walmart, there are small signs at each register notifying customers of the fee.

Some shoppers said they think the retailers should be the ones forced to pay the added fee.

“They’re helping Walmart, making them richer,” shopper Janet Jordan said.

All stores in the plaza will have the fee, but it will not apply to nontaxable grocery items.

The developer said the added fee will be implemented until the debt of the new development is paid off, which will take several years.

Cox Media Group