TikTok user Holly Teska shared a video showing her bill with an additional 2.5 percent surcharge fee added on for every item.
The flight attendant's clip, which quickly went viral, revealed how Target charged her a "public improvement fee" on every item she purchased at a branch in Colorado.
In the video, which has been viewed more than 360,000 times, Holly says: "You guys, things are getting out of control right now."
She said she had to share her "experience" after leaving Target because she wasn't sure if it was just her who had seen the practice.
Holly said: "So, I was purchasing my items, checking out in the self-checkout, and I noticed that there was a new public improvement fee, which was 2.5 percent per item."
[clip]
But others pointed out that the fee was nothing to do with Target, and was instead imposed on the branch by the landlord leasing the site to them.
"It's not a Target thing. The PIF is implemented by the owner of the land and building not the leaser. Just more greed passed onto us," they wrote.
The U.S. Sun has approached Target for comment.
A public improvement fee (PIF) is a surcharge that developers may require their tenants to collect on sales transactions to pay for on-site improvements.
It operates like a sales tax, but instead of being collected by the government, it is collected by a third-party administrator hired by the owner of the site.
This money isn't taken by Target in this case, but by the property developer or landlord, and may be used to pay for everything from curbs and sidewalks, storm management systems, sanitary sewer systems, public street lighting, and road and bridge development.
The flight attendant's clip, which quickly went viral, revealed how Target charged her a "public improvement fee" on every item she purchased at a branch in Colorado.
In the video, which has been viewed more than 360,000 times, Holly says: "You guys, things are getting out of control right now."
She said she had to share her "experience" after leaving Target because she wasn't sure if it was just her who had seen the practice.
Holly said: "So, I was purchasing my items, checking out in the self-checkout, and I noticed that there was a new public improvement fee, which was 2.5 percent per item."
[clip]
But others pointed out that the fee was nothing to do with Target, and was instead imposed on the branch by the landlord leasing the site to them.
"It's not a Target thing. The PIF is implemented by the owner of the land and building not the leaser. Just more greed passed onto us," they wrote.
The U.S. Sun has approached Target for comment.
A public improvement fee (PIF) is a surcharge that developers may require their tenants to collect on sales transactions to pay for on-site improvements.
It operates like a sales tax, but instead of being collected by the government, it is collected by a third-party administrator hired by the owner of the site.
This money isn't taken by Target in this case, but by the property developer or landlord, and may be used to pay for everything from curbs and sidewalks, storm management systems, sanitary sewer systems, public street lighting, and road and bridge development.
