Local Options: To Tax or Not To Tax?

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Mayor Bonfanti says while he sees "both sides of the issue" the City could really use the added tax money.

The Lynn Item: Peabody in pickle on local tax hike

What I don't find very convincing is Mayor Bonfanti's justification for raising the taxes: that the Legislature will be mad at the cities and towns for NOT enacting the taxes while still looking for State relief. To me this sounds like grasping at straws for a reason BESIDES the fact that the City needs more funds... and it seems rather week to me.

The other assertion, that it would be easier if everyone were to enact the increase (Danvers has voted no while Saugus has voted yes) and has the Mayor wishing Salem would pass it to make it easier for Peabody to do the same... is NOT LEADERSHIP! It is being a follower. Stop it and just do the right thing because it is THE RIGHT THING... even if it hurts you in the polls.

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The Massachusetts State Legislature has give Cities and Towns the local option to add a local tax onto hotel rooms and/or meals. This would add up to 2% to the cost of a hotel or motel room and up to 0.75% to the cost of a meal in a restaurant.

The Peabody Weekly News: Decision on local luxury tax hikes stalled until fall

Note: The PWN only has stories up for one week

The Salem News Editorial: Nelson Benton: Nothing tasty about meals tax
The Salem News: Megavoke OK'd, Meals tax denied in Danvers
The Salem News: Local Taxes may rise in tough times
The Salem News: Senate OKs hike in sales, alcohol tax
The Boston Globe: Tax options raise interest, with caution
The Boston Globe: Towns consider tax hike

The problem: State aid to Cities and Towns has plummeted in recent years.
The (one small?) solution: Give local communities the ability to gather their own local taxes with an increase in hotel and meals taxes.

This is not a perfect solution, but it is one way to allow Cities and Towns to gather additional income in very difficult financial times.

The reality of the hotel/motel situation is that adding 2% to the hotel room charges would equal around an additional $2.00 a day to the average hotel/motel room in Peabody. And since the vast majority of the people staying these hotels are from out of town... this seems a perfect way to recoup some of the losses in State funding.

The meals tax is a little more personal as it will mostly affect the locals who frequent Peabody restaurants. However, this additional tax is EXTREMELY SMALL... 0.75% in fact, so small that it simply can not be held up as a DETERRENT to folks seeking to have a meal in a local eatery.

The cost of eating out will change very little... in fact, here are some prime examples...

Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts:
Large coffee and a bagel with cream cheese:
$4.38 --------- + 3 cents tax! = $4.41

Lunch at Sonic (just opened on Rt. 1):
A Number 2 (SuperSONIC Cheeseburger Combo w/ medium fries + drink)
$5.99 --------- + 5 cents tax! = $6.04

Dinner at Sugarcane (for two):
Hot & Sour soup (2), Crab Rangoon, Orange Duck, General Gau's Chicken, and 2 (!) Scorpion Bowls
$64.00 --------- + 48 cents tax! = $64.48

Special Romantic Evening Out for 2 at Legal Seafoods
2 signature cocktails, oysters and coconut shrimp appetizers, shared large Caesar salad, surf & turf (shrimp & scallops), grilled wild salmon, bottle of wine ($45), 2 signature desserts and cappuccinos
$190.00 --------- + $1.43 tax! = $191.43

This should pretty much prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this additional amount of tax would do NO ONE any harm and indeed would NOT change anyone's plans to stop in for a quick bite... or an evening of fine dining.

Now on to the man who cost Peabody $300,000...
Thanks to Councilor Rico Mello - who seems perpetually stuck in some other reality - the City Council will not take up the discussion on these local taxes - NOT EVEN DISCUSS IT!?! - until the Fall... thus losing out on approximately $300,000 in additional City revenues that Mayor Bonfanti proposed applying towards desperately needed road and sidewalk repairs.

Now I am NOT saying I think we should allocate these moneys to ANY ONE project... and if we DO pick only one... roads and sidewalks are NOT the number one need in this City.

But for Councilor Mello to yet again show himself as the OPPONENT OF ANY CHANGE in this City is yet another reason to elect a better representative in the coming elections.