Village of Brookfield issued the following announcement on Jan. 31.
The Village of Brookfield will be hosting a special meeting to discuss a proposed Places for Eating Tax in connection with efforts to develop a balanced budget for FY 2019 and subsequent years. The meeting will be held at Village Hall at 11:00 A.M. on February 19, 2019. In addition to the budget meetings already held on January 14 and January 28 (in the evening), this daytime event offers a further opportunity for more persons to attend.
Background. Over the past 5 years, the Village has been able to balance our budgets primarily using transfers into the General Fund from other sources. While this is perfectly legal, it is not sustainable over the long run.
The fiscal reality facing the Village is that our public safety pension expenses have increased over 60% over the past five years (while other expenses such as insurance have increased significantly). At the same time, the Village’s revenue has remained relatively flat over the same five years. The Village is doing what it can to contain expenses. In fact, personnel expenses for 2019 are actually less than 2016. The bottom line is current revenue is not keeping up with expenditure needs.
Therefore, the Village must diversify its revenue sources. One source of revenue under review is implementing a Place of Eating Tax. This would be a 1% tax assessed on all food/beverages purchased at a Brookfield restaurant/bar. This tax would cost a patron $1 on a $100 bill, and the tax would be in addition to other existing sales taxes. Most other area municipalities already assess this tax.
The Village is hosting the meeting in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss this issue. It is anticipated that the Village Board will consider an Ordinance to enact this tax at a meeting in March. The Village values our business community and is interested in hearing your input and does not take this decision lightly. We encourage you to attend. Thank you!
Original source can be found here.
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