Dining out in Hammond may soon cost more. The city council voted Monday to adopt a one-percent food and beverage tax on restaurants.
The revenue will be used to build a West Lake Corridor station in Downtown Hammond and expand the Hammond Sportsplex, while leftover money could be used to upgrade the Pavilion at Wolf Lake Memorial Park.
Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said it will still be another four months before the tax takes effect. "Next, we have to send the food and beverage bill to the Department and Revenue, so we won't even start collecting until 120 days later, when they alert all the restaurants in the area about the new tax," McDermott explained.
Under state legislation, Hammond's food and beverage tax will expire in 2047. McDermott stressed that the tax will only apply to prepared meals, not groceries.
The only criticism of the new tax came from Robertsdale resident George Stoya. "I'm surprised there's nobody here, really," Stoya noted during the required public hearing. "We don't have any waitresses here. We don't have any bartenders here. We don't have any restaurateurs here. It's just little old me here."
Stoya felt the tax itself wasn't big, but he was concerned about how easy it was to implement. He imagined Mayor McDermott casually seeking permission from state lawmakers to add more local taxes in the future.
To illustrate his point, Stoya proceeded to act out an imaginary phone call between the mayor and State Representative Ed Soliday. "And the next thing you know, there's going to be, 'Well, listen, you know, I need some funds, and I need some legislation, some special interest legislation,'" Stoya said.
