(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A ten-day sales tax holiday greets back-to-school shoppers in Illinois.

“An analysis from the Groundwork Collaborative Fund has found that school supply prices are eleven percent higher than they were just one year ago,” Gov. JB Pritzker said at an announcement Monday in Palatine. “Surveys show nearly half of parents expect to take on debt or cut back on household essentials just to afford back-to-school shopping.”

The holiday is Aug. 7-16.

Illinois Retail Merchants Association president / CEO Rob Karr recalls growing up as one of five children and being the father of four children himself. “(There are) always needs for clothes, shoes, book bags, art supplies, whatever it may be, and also we have teachers with wish lists, things which parents could have the means to fulfill.”

Karr invites people from neighboring states to come to Illinois to do their back-to-school shopping.

The Illinois Department of Revenue has a list of the qualifying and non-qualifying items.