10/06/2026
Please take just 5 minutes to learn about the โ86 the Meals Tax Movement.โ And why itโs so important to our local restaurants & our cityโs culture.
Consider:
โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐
๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐. Buy a Rolex and pay 6% tax. Buy a sandwich while rushing your kids from school to practice and pay 12%.
โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ตโ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น-๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐, supporting thousands of local jobs.
โข ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ, providing employment and opportunity across age, background, experience, and skill level.
โข ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, underscoring the mounting pressures facing independent operators.
โข ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐
๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป on one sector of our local economy.
โข ๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐โour employees, farmers, fishermen, suppliers, artists, musicians, tradespeople, and countless other local businesses depend on a healthy hospitality industry.
โข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ. 87% of all U.S. jurisdictions do not impose a separate Meals Tax, and of the remaining 13% almost all only charge .5 or 1%. It's only Va Beach, some neighbors and a few other outliers that attack the hospitality industry with this unjust tax.
โข ๐ ๐ฒ% ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐
๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ, placing an additional burden on an industry already operating on exceptionally thin margins.