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Call Kurtis: CVS and Dollar Tree Stores Also Erroneously Charged 10 Cents Over Bag Ban Confusion

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) —  More viewers are coming forward saying they are finding stores located in Sacramento County now charging 10-cents for shopping bags, even though the plastic bag ban is a City of Sacramento ordinance.

After reporting about a Walgreens store located outside city limits on Arden Way, viewers wrote me saying the CVS store on Elkhorn and a Dollar Tree on Stockton Boulevard also charged the 10-cents.

We confirmed both locations have Sacramento addresses, but are technically located in the county. By the time our undercover producer stopped by the CVS location, they were no longer charging. However, the Dollar Tree location was charge ten cents per bag. Our producer pushed back.

Producer: So, I don't understand why you guys are charging 10-cents if this is the county.
Clerk: I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. We just do what corporate tells us to do."

We then contacted Dollar Tree's corporate office which thanked us for bringing this to their attention.

"We are in the process of confirming our Sacramento-area stores are only charging for bags, as required." said spokesperson Randy Guiler. "We are aware of one store outside of city jurisdiction, on Stockton Blvd, that has charged 10 cents for bags in error. This store has been contacted and is no longer charging for bags. We will certainly provide a refund for the bag charge to customer's providing a receipt that details they were charged in error. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Walgreens had a similar response on Monday after we heard the store at 4200 Arden Way in the county was also charging for bags. A spokesperson said, "We have been in contact with stores in the area to be sure they are charging fees only where appropriate. The problem stems from a store having a Sacramento mailing address even though it sits outside that city's jurisdiction. If any customers have been inconvenienced by a fee charged in error, we apologize and will refund their money if they present a receipt."

We also contacted CVS corporate which told us;

"We have learned that two of our stores were inadvertently listed in our system as being located within the city of Sacramento:

• 3338 Arden Way

• 5333 Elkhorn Blvd.

Any customer charged for bags at these two locations from Jan 1 – Jan 5 can bring their receipt back for a refund. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We have updated our list of CVS/pharmacy locations impacted by Sacramento's reusable bag ordinance to prevent future errors.

We've reported on confusion with Sacramento City and Sacramento County addresses several times over the years, with some stores charging the wrong sales tax rates and some phone companies charging customers the wrong tax on phone bills because people or businesses have "Sacramento" addresses even though they are in the unincorporated part of the county. You can Find out if an address is in the city or the county with this link.

The City of Sacramento has set up this website to help you navigate the new ordinance.

The plastic bag ban was initially supposed to go statewide this year, but California's first-in-the-nation ban on plastic shopping bags was put on hold when a trade group blocked it by placing the issue before voters on the November 2016 ballot.

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