By Allison Michelli
After 22 years the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants to initiate a meal tax, but just like in April 1992, citizens and business owners are divided on the issue. If a meal tax is passed, it has the potential to directly impact all Fairfax County restaurants including grocery stores and convenience stores selling prepared foods like ready-to-eat meals and drinks, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages served with a meal. The meal tax won’t apply to vending machine items.
Citizens opposing the tax organized the group No Fairfax Food Tax and argues on its website that “the food tax poses just another burden on busy families that already have enough to worry about. It affects low- to middle-income families disproportionately, as they are the primary consumers of prepared meals.”
According to the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget a meal tax could potentially generate up to approximately $88 million in annual revenue for the county. This tax revenue could then go to directly benefit county schools, libraries and other services.
Currently Fairfax City has a meal tax and restaurants in the area have noticed its negative impact on business. Reem Arbid, General Manager of Villa Mozart in Fairfax City says, “unfortunately it [the meal tax] does affect business. I hope that they [The Board of Supervisors] don’t put it through, not that it will affect us directly, but you know, people think about this. Four percent is still a lot of money for people to add on top of the six percent [Virginia sales tax].” Arbid explains that customers can be turned off when they have to pay 10 percent in taxes. She says, “People notice this, especially when they have big parties.”
In April, Chairman Sharon Bulova commissioned a 44-member task force to weigh the pros and cons of a potential meal tax. Led by former chairmen of the board Kate Hanley (D) and Tom Davis (R), the group produced a 170-page report that was given to the Board at their scheduled meeting on this past Tuesday. The Board made the decision that day to defer any action on the meal tax in order to give members a chance to review the final report.
If the referendum is approved, Fairfax County would join a burgeoning group of localities in Northern Virginia that already have a meal tax including: Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax City, Herndon and Vienna.