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Coalition: Meal tax not a happy option for restaurant owners
Rick Allison, who owns The Dock restaurant in Lansdowne, said sales are down about 5 percent from the previous year.He said things for his restaurant will only get worse if a meals tax, which will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot in Loudoun, is approved.
“To add another 4 percent [meals tax] is just going to take a lot more money out of the restaurant owners' pockets,” he said during a press conference given by Loudoun Coalition Against the Food Tax Oct. 28.
This summer, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved including the meals tax on the ballot. The tax would not exceed 4 percent and will be used exclusively to pay off school debt, members of the board said.
If approved, the tax would be levied on ready-to-eat food sold at restaurants, concession stands and grocery stores.
Members of the coalition said the county needs to reevaluate its spending and look at other sources for revenue, like implementing late fees at public libraries and taxing aircraft at the county's airports.
Other speakers at this press conference were Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), Leesburg Councilman Ken Reid, and the co-founders of the coalition, Patricia Phillips – who ran as a Republican for state Senate in 2007-- and Nicholas Graham of Ashburn, and James Parmelee, president of a political communications firm in Washington, D.C., and a local conservative advocate.
Excuse me, but a meals tax is a pass through event. The restaurant collects it, and transmits it. Purcellville, Hamilton and Leesburg have had them for years. I agree sales are down-- but the meals tax is not going to effect restaurant business 1 iota-- when was the last time you took out your handy calculator and determined the "real" cost of your $12.99 dinner? Consider the revenue potential from Dulles airport! SUPPORT THE MEALS TAX! THE CITIZENS OF LOUDOUN DESERVE A BREAK-- THE MEALS TAX GIVES US ONE.
Posted by 4truth
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