Hearings set on meals tax in Tazewell County
tazewell, va. — Two public hearing dates have been set on a proposed meals tax for Tazewell County.
The purpose of the proposed food and beverage tax ordinance is to bolster the provisions of fire protection and emergency medical services in Tazewell County, according to a legal advertisement in the Daily Telegraph.
The first hearing set by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors will be held Tuesday, March 4, at 6:20 p.m. at the Tazewell County Administration Building, which is located at 198 Main Street, Tazewell. A second hearing is planned for April 1, according to Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young.
'You may recall the referendum on enacting a meals tax failed narrowly in 2018,' Young said of an earlier meals tax proposal. 'In 2019 the General Assembly removed the requirement for approval by referendum allowing local governing bodies to enact the tax without referendum. However, two public hearings will be required. They will be held March 4th and April 1 at the Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled meeting.'
If the meals tax were to be implemented by the board of supervisors, Young said it is estimated that it would create between $1 million to $1.2 million in new revenue annually to benefit fire, rescue and EMS in the county.
The proposed food and beverage ordinance would not tax any establishments located inside of the five towns in Tazewell County. Young said there will also not be any additional tax on meals sold inside a town.
'The board voted to hold a public hearing to enact a meals tax to pay for upgrades to our first response departments,' Young said. 'Hurricane Helene, events in California, and recent flooding even before this month have highlighted the consequences of neglecting these core services.'
According to Young, the current proposed budget would use these funds to modernize the sheriff's department fleet ($300,000.00), purchase a new ambulance for Tazewell County EMS ($300,000.00) this year, and establish a department of part time paid firefighters ($400,000.00) to support the existing volunteers. Otherwise additional and future revenues from the tax annually will be applied to gear and equipment for firefighters, improvements to volunteer fire stations, and stipends for volunteer firefighters on a per call basis, according to Young.
'The cost of vehicles, especially law enforcement and EMS vehicles, has risen sharply since COVID,' Young added. 'Our board has chosen not to take the 'drive them until the wheels fall off approach.' We believe that when our law enforcement officers and paramedics hit the road to save lives and property, the last thing they need to worry about is whether they can get there. We need a revenue stream to help us keep up with these costs.'
In terms of firefighters, Young said a 2013 Cardinal study by the state identified deficiencies in fire protection in the county, including the lack of trained compensated fire fighters.
'Since then we have been working to improve the gear and equipment with grant funding,' he said. 'But a candid assessment is that we still have not fixed those problems. Due to population decline and an aging population we struggle to maintain an effective force. Also, many of our people commute for long distances to work and find it hard to find time to volunteer. The bigger problem is our current stipend to a volunteer who leaves his home in the middle of the night to fight to save someone's home or their lives is roughly ten dollars. It's embarrassing. We need to address that. Fixing this problem requires a reliable revenue stream.'
The meals tax is a tax residents can avoid if they choose, according to Young. More importantly, he said the tax is paid in part by persons who do not live in the county, but pass through or visit and stop at a restaurant.
'It's our best chance of taxing people outside our county to provide a critical service inside our county,' Young said. 'This is our best chance to maintain first responder services without placing the burden entirely on our residents.'
The original 2018 meals tax plan was narrowly rejected by Tazewell County voters with 6,926 people voting against it and 6,270 voting for it, according to earlier reports.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
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