NEWBURYPORT — After months of discussion, the City Council will take a vote Monday on whether to implement two measures that would increase the city's hotel and meals tax, with a subcommittee's unanimous recommendation it be approved.
Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron first proposed the idea of imposing the local option taxes one year ago. The City Council failed to act on the matters last session, and he reintroduced them this year.
"I think we need to either fish or cut bait on this," Cameron said last night at a Budget and Finance subcommittee meeting.
Many communities have adopted the local option, including many on the North Shore, and none has reported any drop-off for the restaurant businesses after it went into effect, Cameron said.
"We're talking 71/2 cents on a $10 entree," he said.
The meals and hotel tax increase is a way to generate revenue and to diversify the city's tax base, Cameron said, adding that next year's budget will be tough with lower local aid projections.
The estimated revenue from the meals tax option is about $300,000, and the hotel tax would bring in an additional $18,000 to $20,000, he said.
"I think now is the time to do both," he said.
Throughout the discussion of adopting the local taxes, the councilors have heard opposition from the restaurant community, as well as residents who have signed a petition opposing the move.
Under the proposal before the council, the city would charge a local meals tax, which would bring the current 6.25 percent state meals tax to 7 percent. The additional revenue would stay within the city, rather than go to the state.
The Budget and Finance Committee — which consists of Councilors Ari Herzog, Bob Cronin and Cameron — voted last night to recommend to the council that the city adopt the measures, specifying that a portion of the meals tax increase go toward repairing the city's sidewalks.
Cronin submitted a proposal that the council agree to allocate funds from the meals tax to go toward sidewalk upkeep, saying that the residents should get something in return for paying more.
"I think it's of extreme importance that the residents of Newburyport get something back," he said. "People have always complained about the extremely poor conditions of our sidewalks."
The city bills itself as a "walking city" or a "green" city, Cronin said.
The Budget and Finance committee agreed to adopt an amendment to raise the sidewalk maintenance budget in the city from $60,000 to $210,000 to reflect that half of the local meals tax revenue would go toward that budget.
The City Council will vote on the measures during its meeting on Monday, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.
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