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.

Walnut Street Park -- One Step Closer

The City Council gave its approval for the City to move forward in applying for loans to clean-up the proposed park site on Walnut Street.

The Lynn Item: Peabody council OKs application for funds

The Councils vote allows Community Development to apply for $550,000 in State funding from the Massachusetts Parkland Acquisition and Renovation for Communities Grant Program.

The park will be a welcome addition to the woefully under served area - giving the neighborhood a place to gather as well as becoming a launching point for the long overdue Downtown Riverwalk.

Of course Councilor Mello again expressed his anger that such a project was going forward in his ward despite his protestations.

"I was against the city purchasing this property because we will be spending a half million to clean it up when the landlord should have cleaned it," he said. "But the council chose differently. We've made a sinkhole here, make no mistake. It's an area that is hard to secure, there will be children playing by the train tracks... I wish it never had passed."

A sinkhole. This man has absolutely no vision. And kids will be playing on the train tracks?? HEAVENS NO! Councilor... take a look at the situation RIGHT NOW! They are already playing on the train tracks... maybe a NEW PARK will give them a different place to play? It's called leadership. It is what your constituents need right now. Be that person or move on.

Rico Mello Needs to GET IT

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** I re-read my original post and felt that I went too far into a personal attack. You may judge for yourself - here is the original. I have modified this post to be more in line with what I would like to see in a political blog.

What exactly is the reason that City Councilor Rico Mello has for wishing to be a representative of the citizens of Ward 3 and the rest of the City of Peabody?

He seems to have a desperate need to be constantly the center of attention in any City Council meeting, which (frankly) isn't the worst thing in the world... but only IF you actually do some work to UNDERSTAND the complex issues facing the City... and not just spout off about whatever pops into your head!?

Councilor Mello considers himself a PROTECTOR of the people and frankly... but this is not what I see. He is often vocal, which is fine, but mostly the result is bluster and grandstanding... and what has he actually got to to show for all these antics?

We have heard all this before... why is it that Ward 3 seems to have such unhappy leaders? It has been said that this has to do with a mindset that is based on an earlier way of life - one that sadly is long gone and will never return. OK. I can accept that it is difficult for some folks to see the old ways passing on. But they do... and they are gone.

Ward 3, and the entire City of Peabody, need leaders who will look beyond petty grievances and differences and embrace the needs of ALL Peabody citizens.

If Councilor Mello (or any civic leader) is NOT a person who can understand the difficult times we live in AND act as an advocate for the citizens... they need to reconsider their role in our government.

Just standing up and saying "NO!" all the time is NOT leadership... it is the easiest of actions - one that seem to be the nervous reaction of a people who simply do not understand the complexities of modern government.

Councilor Mello...

NO! To turning a haz-mat site into a City park for his Ward?????
NO! To the Portuguese-American War Veterans (and the citizens of Peabody)?????

I could go on but you all know it as well as I do...

WHY are you voting against the projects that will be beneficial to the citizens of our community?

So I really hope that if Councilor Mello decides to run again in this years race he will decide to be a LEADER, he will take the time to UNDERSTAND the complexities of city government and be willing to GOVERN with the needs of ALL the Citizens of Peabody in mind.