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By John Darling For the Tidings December 10. 2014 6:47PM Should tax on market vendors apply retroactively? People crowd into the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market at the Ashland National Guard Armory. Daily Tidings/ file photo The city of Ashland has collected the 5 percent food and beverage tax from restaurants since it was enacted in 1993, but for much of that time it overlooked the vendors of prepared foods — coffee, doughnuts, burgers, spanakopita — at the weekly Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market on Tuesdays on East Main Street. Under terms of its permit, vendors at a similar market on Saturdays on Oak Street near downtown are not allowed to serve prepared foods. The Tuesday market operates from March through November; the Saturday market from May through October.  The city staff sent “secret shoppers” to the Growers Market in August — after receiving a complaint they weren’t paying taxes — and, sure enough, the vendors weren’t charging the 5 percent tax to consumers. The city notified two of the small vendors at the Tuesday market to pay up, dating back to Sept. 5, when the city notified them. Vendors acknowledged they fall under the law, since they are selling food and beverages within the city limit but, since the city hadn't been enforcing the law for so long, the vendors hadn't been collecting the tax money from customers, and the total amount at stake is small, they asked the city to hold off until next season, when they can start fresh, collecting the tax, keeping records and paying the city.  In addition, vendors say they have no clear idea of their exact sales in the disputed period, so it would be hard to pencil out what they owe the city.   City staff asked the city council at its meeting Dec. 2 to decide whether it should go ahead, as planned, with enforcing the law, or direct city staff to hold off until next year. The item was almost last on the agenda and ran up against the mandated 10:30 p.m. ending time before a decision was made, so it was continued to the meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, when it should be in the unfinished business items near the top of the agenda. The Tidings asked shoppers in front of the Ashland Food Co-op what’s fair: Should vendors at the Ashland Growers Market be required to pay back taxes since last August, when they were notified of their liability under the city’s 5 percent food and beverage tax? Or should the city wait till next spring and start the assessment in the new season, when vendors can charge it to consumers? Julia Rezek — I don’t think the city should charge back taxes. Do it next year. The city’s policy was not instated util now. The vendors appear to fit the description of restaurants who make prepared foods, so how can you treat them differently than restaurants? But don’t make them pay back taxes. Wayne Mikkelson — The present system (not paying taxes) is working fine. People seem to be living with it for 20 years. The vendors are not like restaurants, so don’t treat them that way. Jennifer Butler— No, don’t charge them (for back taxes). Vendors at the Growers Market should have the chance to pass the tax to consumers. I can’t imagine them paying back taxes. That would be outrageous and would drive some of them out of business. It’s fair, though. Even small food shops need a chance to charge it to consumers. It’s hard to be a small business, but they create jobs and the city is making it increasingly difficult for them. Arrow McGowan — I’m on the vendor’s side. I can’t understand the whole situation. It seems strange to charge a 5 percent tax at an outdoor grower’s market. I never heard of a farmers market getting taxed. A lot of them (vendors) are just trying to make a buck and get by and run a small business. This town should do what it can to support them and make it easy for them.   http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141210/NEWS/141219958 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->