I am sure Somerville and Malden restaurants are hoping Medford raises local meal taxes, much the way New Hampshire benefits every time Deval Patrick raises our state sales taxes.
To tax or not to tax?: Medford debates debates .75 percent hike on meals
By Matthew Reid/medford@cnc.com
I certainly don’t like to raise taxes, but this extra .75 percent is certainly not as regressive as raising someone’s property taxes,” said Mayor Michael J. McGlynn. “You hope raising taxes is never the way to go, but right now the city is running out of options for raising revenue.”
A city or town must vote to adopt the additional .75 percent tax increase no later than Aug. 31 if it is to impose the additional excise starting on Oct 1.
McGlynn said he will be recommending the tax to the City Council at its scheduled Aug. 18 meeting, the final council meeting before the Aug. 31 deadline. He has contacted all seven council members and spoken to four directly.
“So far the council members I have spoken to have been non-committal,” McGlynn said. “I will be recommending to them that we adopt this tax, and I really hope they approve it, but I don’t know how the vote will go.”
“The chamber hasn’t had an official meeting about the tax, but there is some concern,” White said. “One of my biggest concerns is that if Medford decides to go ahead with this tax, and a neighboring community like Malden doesn’t, where are people going to eat? When faced with a decision, how often will people decide to eat at a place that is slightly cheaper?”
White added it is the smaller businesses that could feel the brunt of the tax.
“When the initial buzz about the tax came up, there was a fear that many of the businesses in the city could lose revenue,” White said. “Either it’s people not eating out as often, or servers feeling the loss with less gratuity.”
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