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Kinnon makes case for local meals tax in Malden
A proposal to levy an additional local meals tax was introduced to
citizens last night at the first in a series of public meetings on the
plan held by the City Council.
If approved, the measure would add .75 a percentage point to the state meals tax, which stands at 6.25 percent.
This "local option" is a feature added to the tax code when legislators on Beacon Hill revisited the state tax on dining out last year.
If
adopted in its current form, the additional fraction of a percent is
expected to bring in upwards of $500,000, said Ward 6 Councilor Neil
Kinnon, who introduced the legislation and gave a brief slideshow
presentation outlining the impacts and context of the tax.
The
bump in revenue could help the city pay for upgrades to ailing
infrastructure, fund the acquisition of open space, and restore
previously cut public safety personnel, among a host of other
possibilities, Kinnon said.
The city has struggled to close a budget gap left this fiscal year by reductions in local aid from the state.
But
some in the audience last night spoke out against the tax, saying that
it would hurt local restauranteurs who struggle enough with the 6.25 percent
meals tax the state collects.
Shane Smith, the
proprietor of O'Neill's in Malden, said the additional 1.25 percentage
points the legislature approved last year costs him about $6,500 a
year. The additional local tax could increase that yearly bill by about
$4,000, he said.
"We're providing employment in town," Smith said. "This money would come directly out of their pockets."
Kinnon listed seven neighboring cities or towns that have adopted the measure.
Ward 4 Councilor James Nestor, who chairs the Finance Committee, said
in an interview after the hearing that the tax was tabled in June
during the budgeting process, and was taken up again in September by
Kinnon on the condition that the money generated by the tax
would fund specific projects and not land in the general
fund where its use would be difficult to track.
If
the revenue is deposited into the general fund, it could be dispersed
like any other chunk of cash, including going toward salaries at the
fire and police departments, among other uses.
Kinnon
said the public hearings were called as a safeguard against the type of
public backlash generated by a controversial deal to lease a city park
to the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, a deal which critics in
Malden have said was not proffered in the open and circumvented the
public input process.
Brian Parow, spokesman
for the union that represents firefighters and officers, was first to
address the council about the meals tax boost and urged using the money
to restore staffing levels at the Fire Department.
Ten firefighters were laid off
after a shortfall in state aid to cities and towns forced Mayor Richard
C. Howard to renegotiate contracts with many of the city's unionized
employees. Police and fire unions rejected city offers, which would
have changed their health care coverage and increased premiums and
out-of-pocket costs. Police were spared the bulk of the layoffs after
the mayor cobbled together money from other parts of the budget at the
11th hour.
At least eight in the
audience donned red Malden Fire Department shirts, and at least one was
in uniform. A few spoke to the council, expressing in brief and direct
language the need to restore the department to its former staffing
levels.
One retired firefighter, Donald
Boyce, who said he served for 34 years, delivered a similar message in
perhaps the starkest tone:
"You just
lost 14 men. At some point this has got to cease. It's getting to a
point where it's ridiculous," Boyce said. "Whatever the council has to
do ... What ever the heck it takes, get these guys back to work. If
you've got to find the money somewhere else, then find it."
By
a show of hands requested by Kinnon, a large majority of the
approximately 40 audience members indicated they would prefer the tax
to fund specific projects such as capital investments.
Among
the suggestions made last night was for the city to purchase open space
or invest in infrastructure, which Kinnon said in his presentation was
badly needed.
"We do our operating budget, and
we're always broke because we spend it all," he said in the
presentation. "It's more like crisis management when we try to fix
things in the city."
Others at the meeting
advocated for the acquisition of open space such as the High Rock area,
an approximately 8-acre patch of woods that some residents said is an
invaluable natural oasis.
One resident, who
said he lives across from the High Rock area, said he supports the tax
because he said the city needs the open space.
"Malden is becoming more and more a suburb of Boston. It's getting to be one big hot top parking lot," the man said.
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