Board Split on Meals Tax

Selectmen will let the voters decide on whether or not to impose the additional tax on meals at restaurants that the legislature voted to allow communities to adopt, but they will not support it across the board.

The .75 percent tax would add about $250,000 to town coffers over a year's time, and $100,000 for the next calendar quarter remaining in 2011.

Saying they would not impose any further taxes on local businesses, no matter how small, board chairman Jess Aptowitz and members Olivier Kozlowski and Doug Annino voted against support of Article 13 on the annual town meeting warrant.

George Dentino was the only selectman who has supported the measure from the beginning of discussion, and Wednesday he reiterated his stance, saying, "Seventy five cents on a $100 bill amounts to nothing. I give that out in two coffee tips." He also noted, "It's the only tax that is self-inflicted." Dentino said anyone who didn't want to pay the extra three-quarters of a percent could eat somewhere else. The state already imposes its own tax on restaurant meals.

Kevin Moran, who said he had been weighing the advantages of the revenue raising mechanism for months, said he still was not entirely in favor. But he ended up giving his support to the article, saying, "It's a gateway tax, but it's the least regressive tax option we have. It goes directly to our community - it could stabilize the tax base."

He noted it was "one more small thing" that the state had given communities to help them control their destinies and raise revenue in lean financial times.

"Its the least offensive way," Moran said.

Aptowitz affirmed the measure should properly decided by the community, even though the board is split on its feelings about the measure. "It's important the decision be made by the voters, but I think it's another tax," he said.

Selectmen went through the warrant page by page in preparation for the May 26 town meeting, but had to skip over most financial articles because the numbers have yet to be finalized by the finance committee. Town Manager Bill Ross said the final budget, approximately $78 million for town and schools combined, will vary little from what estimates have already come in.

The board voted to support a $200,000 deposit into an account that will begin to accrue funds for the town's so-called "unfunded mandate" of current and retired health benefits that are paid now or will be due in the future - about $70 million all together.

"State law requires this," Ross said. "It's not something that depends on whether the funding is there or not. The theory of how you fund it is identical to how you fund pensions."

Finance committee chairman Andres Gazzolo told selectmen last week the town should be setting aside substantial amounts to catch up with the accumulating debts it will owe as employees on both the town and school sides continue to retire.

The board also voted to support an article allowing the town to offer town employees early retirement, even though right now not enough employees are eligible or have expressed interest to result in a large impact on the Mansfield budget. "It's pretty much a no-brainer," said Dentino.

Selectmen unanimously approved an article that establishes a bylaw directed at intoxication in public places, levying a $200 fine on anyone who has to be taken into police custody. It does not apply to private property, and the money collected would go towards defraying the costs associated with taking the person into custody. Any extra beyond the costs incurred by the police department will go into the general fund.

The warrant is 44 articles long, and the board will continue to review articles before the May 26 town meeting date.