By Brett Yates
Starting next year, Pittsfield may have a chance to draw from an additional source of municipal revenue. First, voters will have to approve a new “local option” tax at Town Meeting Day.
Some Vermont municipalities require restaurants, bars, hotels, and/or shops within town limits to add a 1% surcharge to each customer’s bill.
Alongside the state’s 6% sales tax, its 9% tax on rooms and meals, and its 10% tax on alcohol, the Vermont Department of Taxes administers supplementary “local option” tax options, sending 70% of the proceeds back to the town.
Hoping to tax rooms, meals, and alcohol, members of the Pittsfield Select Board voted unanimously on Nov. 21 to draft an article for residents to consider in March. By then, they expect to have data on the new tax’s potential yield.
“We’re trying to diversify our revenue stream, trying to take it out of the property tax. It would be distributed more to people coming in,” Chair Ann Kuendig said.
Selectwoman Joyce Stevens owns the Swiss Farm Market on Route 100.
“It’s not going to hurt my business. You’re buying a sandwich for $8, and you’re going to have a 1% tax on it,” Stevens said. “I don’t think people are really going to notice it.”
The board also agreed to draft a Town Meeting Day article that could turn Pittsfield’s annual town report into a mostly digital document.
“We will send out a postcard that the town report is available online at this link,” Kuendig said. “If you would like a hard copy, come to the town office, pick it up, or call.”
With the voters’ approval, the mailing of paper copies would end, except in cases of specific requests.
“That’ll save a lot of money,” Selectman A.J. Ruben said.
