THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410250082
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Voters on Nov. 8 will have an opportunity to have a say in the future of the county that could have a direct effect on their own incomes.
And the Isle of Wight County Tourism Bureau, the local School Board and one of the largest restaurants in the area want the voters to say ``yes'' to a meals tax referendum. The county's Board of Supervisors is considering a 2 percent levy on restaurant meals.
``We have a $34 million capital debt in this county,'' tourism director Diane Howard said at a press conference held at Smithfield Station last week. ``In Isle of Wight, more and more visitors are coming into the county. Why not let these people help defray some of the cost?''
A meals tax referendum was defeated in 1991, Howard said. She said that she hopes giving the issue a little publicity and making it clear to the public that it would be of little cost to local citizens might push it through this time.
The School Board has passed a referendum supporting the meals tax, School Superintendent Jane York said at the press conference. The $200,000 that could potentially be collected on a meals tax of 2 percent could help to pay for the ongoing school construction program, York said.
``The School Board sees it as a revenue that could help offset education cost,'' she said. ``We are trying to play catch up, and we are trying to renovate schools. And our enrollment is increasing. We had a rather phenomenal increase this September.''
A meals tax, Howard said, is a users tax. Only those residents who choose to go out to eat and visitors to the county would be required to pay it.
``We feel it is a fair and just way to generate new revenue for the county,'' she said.
And Smithfield Station, a local restaurant that served more than 77,000 people last year, added support to the issue.
``We'd like to see the money generated poured back into the county coffers,'' said Judy Hare, director of public relations for the restaurant. ``About 80 percent of the people who eat here are out-of-towners. We'd like to see some of the revenue go back into tourism. We need to attract more and more tourists to Isle of Wight.''
Once the vote is held on Nov. 8, if approved, it would be up to the supervisors to set the amount of the meals tax. State law allows counties to charge up to 4 cents on the dollar. Cities may charge up to 5 cents. This is over and above the state sales tax of 4.5 cents.
``People everywhere else are used to paying this tax,'' Howard said. ``I don't think people are going to pay that much attention to a few pennies at a time.''
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk have a 5 percent meals tax. Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton charge 4.5 percent. Franklin's meals tax is set at 3.5 percent. Neither Surry nor Southampton counties currently charge a meals tax.
The Board of Supervisors' proposed 2 percent tax would amount to 20 cents on a $10 bill; 40 cents on a $20 bill. It could help to fund education in the county, it could help to fund school construction cost and it could prevent other local taxes, like real estate and personal property taxes, from going up.
``People are not going to stop eating out,'' Howard said. ``This is the way to do it.'' by CNB