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Meals tax hike heads for debate By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Restaurant patrons in Ashland could be asked to pay higher taxes on their meals to raise funds for park, trail and open space purchases. The Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission considers a proposal Monday to raise the city's prepared food and beverage tax from five cents per dollar to six cents. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held at the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department office, located at 340 S. Pioneer St. in upper Lithia Park. The Ashland City Council is slated to decide Tuesday whether to place the issue before voters. "I think the council will be willing to put it on the ballot," Councilor Don Laws said this week. Currently, a penny per five cents of the meals tax goes to fund park land purchases, while four cents goes to the city's wastewater treatment plant. Earlier this month, a council majority shot down a proposal to ask voters to allocate two cents for land purchases and three cents for the treatment plant, while also raising sewage fees to offset losses to the plant. Parks system development charges on new construction also would have been increased. "One of the main reasons the council voted against the previous idea was it was a little convoluted," said Laws, who voted with the majority opposition. "I was on the committee that came up with the proposal that the parks commission adopted. But I grew to have reservations as soon as I started talking to people and seeing how they were reacting." Resident Guy Nutter, speaking at the earlier council meeting, suggested raising the meals tax, and council members directed city staff to develop a report on the idea. Increasing the tax would bring in an additional $330,000 per year for land purchases, according to City Finance Director Lee Tuneberg. The meals tax is set to expire in 2010, but nearly all of the future receipts are committed to funding past park land purchases. With a funding source still to be identified, last year the parks commission and city council approved a 10-year park, trail and open space acquisitions plan after a series of public meetings. "We have a plan that was already approved with a lot of public input," Councilor Chris Hearn said. "There's no way to carry it into fruition without funding. Let's refer it (the new funding proposal) to the voters. Let the people decide. How can you argue with that?" Hearn said. He said the proposal to increase the meals tax could meet with opposition from the restaurant industry. The original tax was passed in 1993 after intense community debate. Unlike sewage fee increases, the meals tax increase would be paid partially by tourists, and residents could avoid the tax, according to Hearn and Laws. "You can control whether you pay or not by whether you eat out," Laws said. "With an increase in the sewer fee, there's no choice over that. It's an easier tax for people to understand and accept and swallow. The cause is certainly one a lot of people are in favor of." He said if the council approves sending the issue to a citywide vote, it could appear on the ballot this fall. Some parks supporters have admitted they are leery of asking for a meals tax increase this spring, when school advocates will be seeking a renewal of the Youth Activities Levy to fund extracurricular activities in the Ashland School District. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -