BRATTLEBORO -- The question for town taxpayers is not necessarily whether Brattleboro should institute a 1 percent local sales tax, but rather, what services should get cut to keep the tax rate level.
That was the sentiment of several board members who discussed during a special meeting Tuesday night whether they should support the sales tax and recommend it to Town Meeting Representatives next March.
"What are people willing to give up?" asked board member John Allen.
"Most of us have indicated that everything is on the table for discussion," said board Chairman Jesse Corum.
That includes approving new revenue sources -- such as the local sales tax -- and cutting services.
The board scheduled the special budget meeting in an attempt to get more people to chime in about the sales tax and the overall budget.
Three members of the business community were the only ones who made the meeting. The board also received two letters, one from a local commercial real estate broker and another from the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce.
All three attendees and both letters were against the local sales tax.
While a local sales tax might work for some cities and towns in the western part of the state, said one businessman, it would probably hurt a town such as Brattleboro.
"The eastern side of the state is robbed of retail by New Hampshire," said Stanley "Pal" Borofsky, the owner of Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters in Brattleboro,
The real answer, said Borofsky, is an increase in the town’s grand list, which would lower the tax burden. But for that to happen, people and businesses have to move to Brattleboro, he said, something they’re not willing to do because of the high tax rate.
"If you want the grand list to grow, you’re not helping it," said Borofsky.
If the town authorizes a 1 percent local sales tax, said Bob Kessen, owner of Lawton Flooring and Black Mountain Plaza, "I guarantee you that my sales will go down."
Kessen told the board that he recently lost two big sales to stores in New Hampshire because of Vermont’s sales tax.
"It happens time and time again," he said.
"Nobody comes to Brattleboro when they can buy it in Keene for less money," added Borofsky. "You’ve got to be crazy."
If the sales tax goes from 6 to 7 percent with the addition of the local sales tax, said Greg Worden, owner of Vermont Artisan Designs, there will be "a lot more incentive to go across the river. Think long and hard before you implement it."
But board member Dick DeGray said most people from Brattleboro are not shopping in New Hampshire because Vermont has a sales tax. They are shopping there because towns such as Keene offer services and merchandise they can’t find in town.
"If T.J. Maxx was in town, they wouldn’t drive over there," he said.
DeGray compared the local sales tax to the 1 percent rooms and meals tax the town approved three years ago.
John Leisenring, the town’s finance manager, said the most recent payment from the state for the rooms and meals tax was the highest the town has ever received, at more than $95,000.
"That tells me people are coming to our community and spending money," said DeGray. "They haven’t been turned off by that added tax."
It’s not right to compare the rooms and meals tax to a local sales tax, said board member Martha O’Connor, because they collect money from two different groups of people.
The rooms and meals tax affects people who choose to stay somewhere overnight or go out to eat.
"A general sales tax hits the people who can least afford it," said O’Connor, who said she has not wavered in her opposition to the tax.
"I don’t think it solves the problem," she said. "We are adding another tax."
Just implementing a new tax is not enough, admitted DeGray.
"This board has to make cost-effective reductions in our budget," he said. "It takes nerve. We have to look at everything."
"I hope people don’t think we look at any of this lightly," said Allen. "These are tough decisions."
It’s not just the town budget that is hurting people, he said, it’s the school budget, which makes up two-thirds of everyone’s tax bill.
Brattleboro is No. 6 in the state for municipal taxes and No. 1 in the state for school taxes, said Allen.
"We can nickel and dime this thing, but the whole picture needs to be looked at," he said.
Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com, or at 802-254-2311, ext. 273.
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