The state Dept. Of Revenue’s Cities and Towns email today focuses on the meals tax. Medfield’s annual town meeting (ATM) voted not to impose the 0.75% local option meals tax a couple of years ago. I wonder if it is not time to ask the voters once again whether they want to impose the meals tax. I support the local option tax because:
- to me, meals at restaurants are more a luxury than a necessity
- Medfield restaurants draw from out of town, so we would get revenue from non-residents
- getting those meals tax monies would lower our property taxes
- we pay that meals tax when we go to restaurants in the 151 cities and town outside of Medfield that have the tax
This was the emailed material from the DOR –
Cities and Towns Have Collected Nearly $500 million in Local Option Meal and Room Taxes Since FY10
Since the local option meals tax took effect in FY10, 151 communities have approved levying the .75 percent local option meals tax in addition to the state’s 6.25 percent meals tax, which has generated more than $150 million in local option revenue for those cities and towns. . .
And during that same time period, the local option room tax has generated $332.7 million, with 96 communities now choosing to levy a six percent local option.
Those two revenue sources have generated more than $482 million in revenue available for appropriation in cities and towns.
The meals tax has grown each year, from $27.1 million in FY10 to $60.7 million in FY11, and, with the final June distribution yet to come, to $62.3 million in FY12.
The room tax has followed a similar course, growing from $94.5 million in FY10 to $126.0 million in FY11 to $111.6 million in FY12, with the final distribution coming in June sure to push the total revenue ahead of FY11.
These local options are additional tools for the communities that choose to use them in tight fiscal times, and cities and towns have used them to maintain services levels and bridge financial gaps.
Robert G. Nunes
Deputy Commissioner & Director of Municipal Affairs
Medfield02052's Blog 
I believe at this point in time that dining out meals are expensive enough that most people would not like a meal tax.
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Ruth, Thanks for sharing your opinion. I could not agree with you more that our meals our expensive enough, but I also think our property taxes are more that high enough too, and I see a meals tax as reducing the property tax a small amount, with the benefit that the meals tax is paid by (1) those who can afford to eat at restaurants, and (2) part of the meals tax is paid by people from out of town. It would be a small amount compared to the total town budget, but it might just help reduce the property taxes at the margins. Pete
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NO!
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