Voters Oppose Meals' Tax Boost

Restaurant owners in Rhode Island are strongly opposed to Gov. Chafee's proposal to increase the restaurant meals tax from 8 to 10 percent to help fund schools.

Patch readers in Barrington seem to feel the same way. More than 80 percent of voters in a recent Patch poll on the proposed boost in Rhode Island’s tax on meals oppose it.

The poll asked Patch readers if they thought increasing the restaurant meals tax from 8 to 10 percent is a good way to help fund education. Schools would be the recipient of the increased cash in the budget proposed by Gov. Chafee.  

Like the RI Hospitality Association, a fervent opponent of the meals tax hike, Patch readers who were given a simple choice of 'Yes' or 'No' voted heavily for the former response.  

The proposed increase is not in the form of legislation before the General Assembly.  It is already written into next year’s state budget.

The goal for restaurant operators, therefore, is to get the higher tax eliminated from the proposed state budget by legislators.