Dine in Ashburn, Save Money, Send a Message

A new stealth tax will be going into effect for our neighbors just over the Fairfax County line in just over two weeks.  The meals tax in Herndon, the 1.5 percent vigorish added to your restaurant tab within the Herndon town limits, is increasing by a whopping 67 percent to 2.5% come July 1.  No one is hearing much about it now, and the Town of Herndon probably wants to keep things that way.  Try and sneak one past the public and you're better off politically.

Here is yet another jurisdiction whose leaders believe that during a recession everyone should suffer except them.  The rules of sound money management don't apply to government, don't you know.  Rather than finding ways to tighten their very ample belts, the Herndon Town Council instead decided to increase a tax that hurts working mothers, children, and those who can least afford it the worst.  Who cares if the tax hasn't been raised in years?  That doesn't justify raising it now. 

The simple economic reality is that not one restaurant in Herndon will be able to afford the additional tax by absorbing it into their costs of operations.  It is all going to be passed on to the customers.  The restauranteurs, small business owners all, will become the bad guys for raising their prices, while the economically illiterate on the Town Council will take credit for bringing "additional money into the town coffers for schools, roads, parks, and things that make Herndon the very special place that it is".

Then there is Ashburn.  While a meals tax has been proposed here before, we don't have one.  By itself, that lowers your cost of going out to eat, not to mention the savings gained by not burning $4 a gallon gas to go across the county line.

And best of all, there is example after example of outstanding little restaurants right here in our own community.  It seems that a month doesn't go by when a new "great little place" opens up.  It doesn't matter if your tastes run from deli to exotic, from quick and fast to relaxed and serene.  We've got something to suit every taste right here, locally owned and operated, and free from little add-on taxes that only serve to drain our wallets and annoy us.

So do a little exploring.  Search out these great places to eat, all of which are minutes from anywhere in Ashburn, many of which promote themselves right here on the Patch.  You'll support Ashburn businesses, save money, and send a message that meal taxes leave a horrible aftertaste.