Font Size

Consumer News And Recalls

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Meal Tax Increase Worries Restaurant Owners

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Jan 22, 2009 3:47 pm US/Eastern

Meal Tax Increase Worries Restaurant Owners

Reporting
Karen Anderson

CHELMSFORD (WBZ) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: AP

Close

numSlides of totalImages

Restaurant owners are concerned about a proposal to allow cities and towns to increase the meals tax.

Many say they are already being hurt during this tough economic time, and this would be another deterrent.

Vincent -- the owner of Vincenzo's in Chelmsford and West Concord -- believes while 2 percent may not add up to a lot, it will have an emotional impact.

He has seen sales drop 7-10 percent and has been working on creative ways to reduce prices to bring more people in.

But local leaders in cities and towns say they need to find any source of revenue that they can.

Paul Cohen, the town manager in Chelmsford, says it's estimated a 2 percent increase to Chelmsford's meals tax would bring $1.2 million to Chelmsford. He says he will likely have to cut positions because of expected cuts in state aid.

Right now, if state aid was cut by 10 percent, Chelmsford would lost $1.7 million, and Cohen says a meals tax hike would help close the gap and save jobs.