How Much is the Local Meals Tax Paying Off?

At Town Meeting in 2011, voters approved a 0.75% local meals tax by a vote of 65-29. So how much money is the town seeing from what equates to 75 cents on a bill of $100?

During the debate for the local meals tax, several town officials said that they while they don't enjoy adding new taxes, they supported the change.

"I certainly understand the difficulty of the word tax, and I don't take it lightly," said Mike Newhouse, who is now chairman of the Board of Selectmen, at the time of the 2011 Town Meeting. "One of the arguments I've heard against this measure is that 'A tax is a tax is a tax.' I do believe there are differences between various taxes. An optional tax like this would largely be subsidized by folks that largely don't live in town."

According to Town Accountant Mike Morris, in the 10 months of the last fiscal year that the change was in place, the town saw an increase of $210,845. During the first quarter of this fiscal year, that number was already at $69,286.01.

While Morris said the town budgeted with an expected revenue of $250,000 for Fiscal Year 2013, that total is expected to reach closer to about $258,000.

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