WASHINGTON – The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is yet again considering a meal-tax proposal that would hike the tab at every county restaurant, bar and fast-food establishment by 4 percent.
Although it sounds like proposals that have been rejected in the past, including last year, Supervisor Gerry Hyland, D-Mount Vernon, says that this one is different.
About half the money raised by the tax on food and drink in commercial establishments would be used to lower real estate taxes by “a similar amount,” Hyland says. The rest would be “committed and designated to certain projects,” such as transportation.
The county estimates that the tax would raise about $80 million a year. The board will decide sometime in the next couple of months whether to put the proposal in a referendum before voters.
The board’s next meeting is May 14.
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