Politics & Government

Meals Tax Back Up for a Vote [Poll]

The controversial meals tax proposal will be on the Special Town Meeting warrant.

Just a few months after voters rejected it at Town Meeting, the proposed local option meals tax will go before the voters again.

A citizen petition to be placed on the Special Town Meeting warrant calls for the meals tax to be voted on again.

"It's gonna pass," Selectman Don Stewart said at Monday night. "Everyone will be there for the schools, it'll pass. We need the money, so stop whining about the cost of a cup of coffee."

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Selectman Smedile's view of the proposed tax was in sharp contrast to Stewart's.

"I'm still opposed," Smedile said. "It's the legislature putting this in the hands of the people of North Andover to avoid making tough decisions on taxes."

Find out what's happening in North Andoverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Smedile added that the tax is also on prepared foods at grocery stores -- such as roasted chicken -- which would hit families and elderly residents especially. And she expressed concern for the town's restaurants that are struggling in a troubled economy.

"It's unfair to pick on one group who are couponing all over the place," Smedile said. "They're not all offering all these coupons because business is doing well. To pick on one livelihood, that's just wrong."

At June's Town Meeting, after debating about it for more than an hour, of 0.75 percent in a slim margin of 171-164.

Opponents say the tax would create a burden on local restaurants, and advocates of the tax say it would bring needed revenue to the town.


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