Sunday, October 03, 2010
Editorial: Virginia Tech should collect town taxes
People who dine or lodge at Virginia Tech enjoy town services and should help pay for them.
From the RoundTable blog
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Blacksburg for years has wanted Virginia Tech to collect the town meals and lodging taxes on campus. University officials have stridently refused, usually unwilling even to discuss it. Now, however, a few campus food sellers have started collecting the meals tax, making this an ideal time for the school do the right thing.
To be clear up front, the town does not want to tax meals plans. Students who eat in cafeterias or burn through their dollars at other campus dining options would not pay it.
Rather, the town wants the school to collect the 6 percent meals tax and 7 percent lodging tax only on purchases made by private citizens.
People who patronize campus franchises and other facilities dodge the taxes when they cross the campus border. They enjoy town services as much as anyone else, but they avoid paying for them.
The school is a state institution, so the town, most people agree, cannot compel it to pay the taxes. Lawmakers will not likely change that, either.
Why should they wade into the fight when other state schools -- including Radford University and the University of Virginia -- already have worked out arrangements with their communities? They collect the local taxes or make a comparable payment.
But not the Hokies, at least not in Blacksburg. In Roanoke, the Hotel Roanoke, which the school owns, pays local taxes, but the Inn at Virginia Tech and its Preston's restaurant do not.
Starting this year, at least, Tech sports fans will pay the meals tax on turkey legs and popcorn at games. A private contractor operates concessions at football and basketball games. It has agreed to start collecting. Likewise, some of the private franchises in Squires Student Center collect the tax. Franchises owned by the school do not.
As long as Tech holds out, it adds a little bit to the sense that it is separate from the town, not a full partner with the people who live here year round. With this small effort, it could more fully invest in the community. It could say, "Yes, we are all part of the same team."
