VIENNA, Va. — The town of Vienna is weighing a proposed meals tax increase.
It would raise the meal tax from 3% to 4% for ten years. The money would be used to fund an indoor fitness and aquatics center.
“For a year now we have been asking the public what they would like to do on a piece of property that the town purchased. It’s called the annex. It’s right next door. It’s right in the heart of all our town buildings. We’ve been getting feedback and the top two things that rose to the top of everybody’s wish list was an indoor pool and a fitness center,” said Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert.
The extra money brought in by raising the meal tax she explained, would allow them to open the facility by 2030. Without the meals tax, the earliest the facility could open would be 2040, using the town of Vienna’s usual capital improvement planning process.
She told WUSA9 it wouldn’t be the first time they implemented a meals tax increase.
“The town did it when they built the Town Green, we use that all the time it’s just a gem in the heart of town,” said Colbert.
Town Green was funded through a temporary, 1% meals tax increase from 2002 to 2008, and overall restaurant revenues increased, according to a posting on the town of Vienna’s website.
They also wrote that the current meals tax is lower that neighboring towns and cities.
“This is a consumer tax. It’s a optional tax. So, if they don’t want to go out to dinner, they don’t have to pay it. We think that 1% is a reasonable amount to pay in order to get a facility that would benefit our entire town,” said Colbert.
Monday night, the community weighed in during a public hearing. More than 25 people signed up to speak.
“We’re really getting out of our skiis on this,” said one person who said they were opposed to this.
“I understand that there’s been a lot of public outreach. What is Vienna lacking? Oh a pool. Sure they are. It’s like saying I”m going to the store to get a hamburger and somebody says ‘Hey, want a steak?’ 'Sure I do.' 'OK, it’ll cost you an extra $60.' 'Well never mind, I’ll have a hamburger.' I we need to discuss a little more details,” said one woman, who said she wasn’t so sure an indoor pool is what people in the town actually wanted.
“I think you all are jumping the gun,” said another person.
But others shared that they supported the proposal if it meant bringing a new facility like this into the community
“Vicinity is everything. People don’t want to drive to Tysons to go to a gym,” said one man who supports the idea. “There’s definitely a demand for it’.
Colbert told WUSA9 they’ve heard from a lot of people, both who support it and those against it.
“We do have people who are concerned with taxes. I never want to raise taxes in Vienna. I think it’s a proposal because the cost/reward, we would get something so wonderful,” said Colbert.
The meeting ended with the council deciding to not vote on the proposal, and revisit the conversation at their next meeting on Dec. 9.
To read more about the proposal, click here.