Special Town Meeting Prep: Meals Tax [Poll]

When residents head to next week for Special Town Meeting, they will vote on whether or not to implement a meals tax in the town.

The state allows communities to add a meals tax of .75 percent, and revenues generated by this Local Option Meals Tax go directly to the community and not the state government. Many Massachusetts cities and towns have opted to have this added tax, and many have not.

Back Again

At Town Meeting in June, North Andover voters by a margin of just a few votes. The town still reached a consensus budget without it.

But when the Special Town Meeting was called for to request additional funding for school construction projects, Mark Rodgers put the meals tax proposal on the warrant again, citing rising costs and the need for more revenues to meet those rising costs.

Some Want It

Proponents of the meals tax say it would be a small amount (75 cents added to a restaurant bill of $100) and would add much needed revenues to the town coffers in a time when budgets have already been cut.

And the state's Department of Revenue has estimated that North Andover would get more than $400,000 per year in revenue from a meals tax.

"We need the money," Selectman Don Stewart said after the meals tax was added to the warrant a few weeks ago. "Stop complaining about the cost of a cup of coffee."

About 140 cities and towns statewide have adopted the tax. Nearby communities include North Reading, Andover, Tewksbury, Wakefield, Lynnfield, Winchester, Wilmington and Westford.

Some Don't

Opponents say it would force a burden on local restaurants in an economic climate already unfriendly to the restaurant industry.

"It's unfair to pick on one group who are already giving out coupons all over the place," Selectman Rosemary Smedile said. "To pick on one livelihood, that's wrong."

Opponents also point out that projected revenues from the tax are not set in stone, and if restaurant sales decrease as a result of the tax then revenues from the tax would be lower than projected. And once inacted, it can't be voted away for three years.

More than 200 Massachusetts cities and towns have not adopted the local options meals tax. Nearby Dracut recently voted on it and overwhelmingly rejected it.