Opinion

04-24-2006 08:41 AM

Those against restaurant tax have a different agenda
Guest editorial

By NELSON FERGUSON

I just received my Voters’ Pamphlet and I am wondering about the arguments against presented by Jerry Miller (Wild River Brewing and Pizza), Dave Thomason (Thomason Restaurants) and the Oregon Restaurant Association.

Mr. Miller tells us, “It’s the wrong time for a sales tax.” Is there a right time? I would submit that this is the right time for this tax. As Grants Pass grows our Police and Fire services need to grow with it. Is there a wrong time to fund our schools?

Mr. Miller states and in bold writing: “Tourists will not pull off the freeway to pay a sales tax on meals, so residents of Grants Pass are going to carry the burden of this tax.” Did I miss something; are we putting up signs on the freeway telling tourists that there is a tax on food in our community? One of the reasons for this tax proposal is so that the tourists will pay a tax to enjoy the services that this town and area provides.

Mr. Miller further tells us that the City Council did not even meet with restaurant owners to discuss this proposal; they just put it on the ballot. I suspect that this is closer to the reason Mr. Miller objects than any other. This ballot measure is for the people of Grants Pass to decide.

I’ve been to Mr. Millers’ restaurants; they are on the high end of restaurants in our city. Two people with a $30.00 meal bill at his restaurants will pay an additional $1.45 in tax. As someone that lives in this city and eats out frequently, I will not complain. I suspect that many of his customers will not complain, either.

Mr. Thomason starts his argument with, “I am not a tax collector.” No Mr. Thomason, you are not a tax collector. You are the owner of many restaurants in Grants Pass and making a good living doing so.

Mr. Thomason tell us he is a small business owner. When you own a number of restaurants in our city you are not a small business owner. Mr. Thomason objects that his fellow small business owners are not asked to share this “burden.”

At one time I owned a small business and had to collect sales taxes on every sale. If you accept a credit or debit card in your business, it is surprisingly easy to set your registers to add this tax and total it for you at the end of each day, each week and each month. And it won’t cost you what the measure is willing to give you as part of this tax to calculate.

Mr. Thomason tell us that a sales tax is risky in a community that is fighting for tourism customers. I would submit to you that the tourists that come to this area do so for the beauty of the area, the fishing and the river. Paying a sales tax on their food is the last thing they have on their mind.

Mr. Thomason asks us: “We all care about schools and essential services but why is it the responsibility of a select group of small businesses to be the tax collector for these services?” Once again, Mr. Thomason, this is not the burden you want us to believe that it is. As a business owner in this community, and making a good living, do you not owe something back to this community?

The Oregon Restaurant Association tells us, “A tax on food is regressive. Many of the jurisdictions across the country that have sales taxes do not tax food.” Really. I haven’t been to a single place in this county of ours that charges sales taxes and they have excluded foods.

Seeing as these three entities had to pay $350.00 each for their arguments in the Voters' Pamphlet and judging by the amount of signs against 17.14 we see around our community, there seems to be a lot of money in the drive against making this a safer and more educated community than it is.

Could it be this community is more educated than those arguing against this measure believe we are? Scare tactics are all too common in political debates today. Let’s look through these scare tactics and take the necessary steps to protect and educate our community. For every $10.00 we spend in our restaurants, we are paying 48 cents to help our community. Can it be any easier?

I support Measure 17.14 and I hope others do also.

Nelson Ferguson
Grants Pass, OR

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