Geneva mayoral candidate calls for vote repealing dining tax
Geneva alderman and mayoral candidate Tom Simonian will get his wish to have the city council consider rescinding the places for eating tax before the April election.
Mayor Kevin Burns - who favors the tax - has agreed to put the matter on Monday's committee of the whole meeting agenda as Simonian has requested.
The tax was first discussed at a committee meeting on the budget in February 2016 as a way to add about $1.5 million a year to the city's bank account. It was one of several dozen ideas discussed that night, including whether to allow video gambling.
The tax will charge 2 percent on bills for food and beverages consumed at restaurants, taverns, delis and the like. It does not apply to groceries. It was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, but aldermen decided to delay implementation until May 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
Simonian makes a point of saying the ideas at the budget meeting were proposed by city administrators, not aldermen. And, he has said, he is not convinced the city needs another $1.5 million.
He has also criticized how the city did it.
"It (the eating tax) did not come out as the No. 1 recommendation to pursue. Restaurants were not given, in my opinion, their due process," he said.
The council again discussed the tax in August 2016, then at a September committee meeting and an October city council meeting where it was approved 7-3. Some restaurant owners protested at that October meeting that they had not been told about it.
"It was communicated poorly; the restaurants who were going to be impacted by this were not told," Simonian said Tuesday.
Burns acknowledges the process could have been better.
"To a person, the city council agreed we could have rolled it out better," Burns said in an endorsement interview session with the Daily Herald.
Burns said Tuesday the number of restaurants in Geneva has grown in his 16 years as mayor, from 40 to 145. "Am I willing to pay an extra $1 on every $50 (tab)? Sure I am, due to the value of the product, service and experience," he said.
He has also said that 70 percent of diners are not Geneva residents.
"I think it is absolutely fair to say to those guests that come into our community ... 'We invite you to help pay for services we provide,' " Burns said.
Simonian, who voted against the tax in October, has allies in his bid to rescind the tax. Third Ward Aldermen Mary Seno and Dean Kilburg voted against the tax in October. Second Ward Alderman Richard Marks and 4th Ward Alderman Ronald Singer have since changed their minds, saying they would vote to rescind it. Marks, Seno and Singer are up for election, and all three are supporting Simonian for mayor.
If it came to another vote and there was a tie, the mayor could vote to break the tie.