Sorry, but what part of ‘No!’ is not understood by the Board here? In life, we’re taught that “no means no”. Period. Yet, on the meals tax, the Board has recognized a new rule to live by on tax policy: “no” means, well…nothing. 

Did our County government, in its apparent wayward addiction to a targeted meals tax, miss the lesson?   

To be fair, some Supervisors stated at the time of the vote that they wanted the authority to levy a meals tax, but having the power to do so wouldn’t necessarily mean they would actually use it. 

Now, that’s akin to saying a famished patron who’s just been given $100 bill would go into a Fuddruckers, sit down for an hour, and just take in the sights – but not eat. 

C’mon. We know better. Any governing body staring at a $157 million deficit that has fiscally gerrymandered its way to securing the ability to levy a new tax will let it just sit there unused, right? This cash-starved Board is – dare I say – on the cusp of ‘binge-taxing’, and is therefore constitutionally incapable of making the right fiscal and moral choice on the meals tax. 

What’s a spurned and jilted voter to do? 

The only way to affect this vote, thanks to this policy-making Gordian-knot that was hand-made by the Board, is to have your say (yes, again - sorry folks!) this Tuesday, when we vote for those who are anointed and encumbered with this tasteless task of seeking General Assembly authority to raise taxes at here at home.  

Across the pond and six feet under, in rich English soil, King George III must be laughing rather sardonically at the irony of such things going on in the birthplace of American democracy. 

So, I asked our House of Delegates candidates on the ballot where they stand on the meals and beverage tax.  I asked if they agree with the action taken by the Board of Supervisors; if they will advocate for the authority to impose a meals tax; and, if they favor the underlying tax itself. 

There was no meandering over appetizers here – most went straight for the red meat on the meals tax. GOP Delegate Bob Marshall is a ‘no’ straight down the line. So was challenger, John Bell.

Board Supervisor Stevens Miller, challenging incumbent GOP Delegate Tom Rust, is also a strong ‘no’ on all questions. Although Rust is not opposed to “the concept of a meals tax…to hold down property taxes”, he will not seek the authority for the Board to do so in Loudoun if re-elected. 

GOP challenger Tag Greason is a steadfast ‘no’ too, while incumbent David Poisson is also a ‘no’ across the board, noting that he “has not supported such legislation in previous sessions.”  

Delegate Joe May, a senior, influential lawmaker running unopposed, is a critical voice as Dean of our Richmond delegation. His Legislative Assistant told me May is opposed, and “would agree that any such [meals tax authorization] legislation would most likely not receive favorable consideration by the General Assembly.” 

(Delegate Chuck Caputo and his GOP challenger, Jim LeMunyon, did not respond in time to requests for comment.) 

There’s news here: none of our local candidates is willing to support giving Loudoun ‘Supers’ the authority to impose a meals tax. 

Given this almost uniformity of opposition to the meals tax, it begs the very real question: has the Board of Supervisors set itself up to prematurely fail by asking Loudoun’s current and future representatives in Richmond to support a tax they already all oppose? 

In the interest of ‘solution-driven’ politics, consider this: if the funds are so sorely needed, and to lessen the impact on Loudon residents and small businesses, why not create a special tax district encompassing Dulles International Airport, and levy a 6.5% meals and beverage tax there only. This tax would be either primarily paid for by out-of-town transients; or, would be likely expensable as a business meal for those Loudouners using the airport for business trips.  

A drop in the bucket, you say? Tell that to the 23.9 million hungry and thirsty passengers who passed through IAD last year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. (That’s eighty times the population of Loudoun County). Each of them has the potential to be a single-serving generator of revenue for the County, and have a hand in the “diversification of our tax base” -- a fiscal fiat recited from memory like a line from a Shakespearean love sonnet at budget time by members of the Board. 

They say that, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” Which is kind of ironic, given this issue is now officially reheated, and back on the front burner. 

I, for one, just can’t stomach it… 

Disclaimer: I am the Co-Founder of the Loudoun Coalition Against the Food Tax, formed in September 2008.