Savings from the state’s fourth sales tax holiday weekend in August fell 21 percent from last year’s holiday, the state Department of Revenue said.

The agency estimated sales tax savings at about $2.3 million for the Aug. 1-3 period, during which shoppers didn’t have to pay the 5 percent tax on selected items, spokesman Danny Brazell said.

That translates into about $47 million in tax-exempt goods sold at S.C. stores during the three days. Last year, an estimated $59.9 million in tax-exempt goods were sold with a savings of $2.9 million.

This year’s savings were down 35 percent from 2000, the inaugural tax holiday, when $3.6 million was saved on $72 million in sales.

Brazell said the declines could be the result of competing holidays in North Carolina and Georgia or a weak economy.

“Unfortunately, the economy has been going south since the holiday started,” he said.

Total sales at stores for the weekend would be higher than $47 million, Brazell said, because consumers bought nonexempt items, too.

Jim Hatchell, president of the S.C. Merchants Association, said even with the declines, the tax holiday weekend has become the second largest for retail sales, behind Thanksgiving weekend.

S.C. retailers are hard pressed to find a sales promotion that generates as much excitement as the weekend does, Hatchell said.

“It would be a mistake to take it away right now,” he said. “Our folks still like it. You don’t want to do any tampering with that.”

Brazell said all of the sales tax revenue collected during the holiday weekend is earmarked for education. The department typically collects about $2 billion in sales taxes each year.

Reach Young at (803) 771-8659 or tfyoung@thestate.com.