The City of Cedar Park will launch a "shop local" campaign later this summer that city officials hope will educate residents.

A new website, ShopCP.org, will launch as part of the campaign and will encourage residents to shop locally through a variety of resources, including business listings, a locator map, a rundown of ongoing retail projects and various video promotions, Cedar Park spokeswoman Jennie Huerta said during the May 23 City Council meeting. The campaign officially starts in late July to early August—just before the beginning of the school year, she said.

"We also want to educate residents about the city boundaries to ensure they're shopping within the city boundaries and explain why shopping local truly benefits our community," Huerta said.

Such a distinction is important, she said, because all purchases within city limits contribute to Cedar Park's sales tax collections, which go toward police and fire protection as well as other quality-of-life services. In addition, increased sales-tax collections help keep property taxes level, Huerta said.

Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell agreed that it was important to educate the difference on city boundaries, citing the new H-E-B Plus on Lakeline Boulevard as one example of a recent project that has a Cedar Park address but actually benefits Austin's sales-tax base, he said.

"We asked for that to be changed, but the postal service told us what they thought of that idea," Powell said.