Fairfax County Meals Tax: Not a Chance?

A potential meals tax in Fairfax County is already leaving a bad taste in the mouths of some members of the business community.

During a meeting of the county’s top economic officials Tuesday, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) said it was opposed to the tax.

Christian Deschauer, the FCCC’s vice president of government relations, said the chamber would not support a referendum — a position shared by many restaurant owners, he said.

“We’ve never supported state legislation or board action that specifically targets a single industry,” Deschauer said. “I’ve talked to a bunch of restaurants in the past week … and the message has not changed from them – they remain adamantly opposed. That’s just the initial feedback.”

Last week Supervisor Gerry Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) pitched putting a meals tax referendum to Fairfax County voters in a future election in order to take stress off of residents paying higher real estate taxes.

Charging a hypothetical 4 percent meals tax could raise anywhere from $80 to $100 million a year in additional revenue, Hyland said. Were the tax imposed, the price of a meal at a Fairfax County restaurant would go up by about 4 percent from its current price — a $50 restaurant tab would end up costing residents $52.

A possible meals tax in Fairfax County would not affect towns and cities in the area that already have meals taxes, per Virginia law, so Vienna, Herndon and Fairfax City would be exempt from charging customers additional tax.

Deschauer said it was too soon to talking about even more taxes on businesses, especially after increases to the commercial and industrial (C&I) real estate tax rate and sales tax increases in the Gov. Bob McDonnell’s new transportation bill.

“There’s a lot the business community has supported in the past couple of months and I think it’s a difficult time to immediately start another conversation supporting another tax increase,” he said.

Mark Silverwood, president of the Reston-based real estate developer Silverwood Companies, said dining out at a restaurant was a choice people make – if they don’t want to, they don’t have to.

“I believe that dining out is a discretionary event,” he said. “If families don’t want to eat out and they want to stay home and cook, they can avoid that sales tax. I think it’s a good way to bring in some money.”

Bill Strandberg, a government contractor and Fairfax County resident for more than 20 years, said he would be forced to look for alternatives if the county passed a meals tax. Strandberg said he and his wife, who live about a mile from Vienna, actively avoid eating in the town because of its 3 percent meals tax.

Residents buying $20 worth of burgers and fries from the McDonald's on Maple Avenue, for instance, pay $0.60 more than customers of the McDonald's outside the town limits on Chain Bridge Road.

“We’re being taxed to death,” Strandberg said. “The alternative, unfortunately, with the meals tax is that you don’t eat out and that hurts all the restaurants in the area.”

Tell us: Would you pay 4 percent more to eat in Fairfax County? Let us know in the comments.