Sunday, March 30, 2008
Editorial: Blacksburg needs a higher meals tax
And diners at Tech should start paying it.
From the RoundTable blog
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No one enjoys paying a hefty meals tax in Blacksburg, but it is a smart means to ensure visitors help fund essential local services. Now if only Virginia Tech would have campus diners chip in.
Town leaders propose increasing the local meals tax from 5 percent to 6 percent, the same rate Christiansburg charges. Combined with the statewide 5 percent rate, diners at Ceritano's and other eateries could pay 11 cents for every dollar an entrée costs on the menu.
Blacksburg's increase would generate about $500,000 annually to fund four new police officers, an emergency services dispatcher and a cleaning crew for the downtown district.
The town and university have grown over the years, but law enforcement has not kept up. This is a chance to bring services closer to an appropriate level in the largest town in Virginia.
The only feasible alternative would be increasing property taxes. Residents should pay for their own services, but visitors, especially during football season, use town services, too. They rightfully help pay for them through the meals tax.
That leaves only one sizable group not paying its share: Diners at Tech.
The university has built a reputation for excellent student cuisine, but it also offers fast food and other restaurants open to the public. Because those establishments are on state property, they are not obligated to collect the local meals tax. That results in a current 5 percent discount just because a pizza place is on the right side of College Avenue.
Even more eateries could soon take advantage of that loophole if and when Tech opens a performing arts center. An accompanying parking garage might feature street-level retail space. Restaurants there would front Main Street but not pay taxes like competitors across the street.
If the past year has shown anything, it is that Tech and Blacksburg are there for each other. They are intimately connected.
The school does not have to collect the taxes, but it could do so voluntarily. Students and others who eat on campus enjoy town services; they should pay for them like everyone else.
In Radford, the city has an arrangement with the campus dining contractor to collect the tax. A similar arrangement, at a new 6 percent rate, should exist between Blacksburg and Tech.
