Senior citizens, restaurant workers oppose tax, fear retribution
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opposition to the meals tax
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Date: August 04, 2016 10:22AM
A group of Fairfax senior citizens hold an informal meeting each week at a local McDonald’s. They meet to chat, help each other, and just get out of the house.
Lately, they’ve been chatting a lot about the proposed meals tax.
“This will hurt us” said a member of the group. “True, it is not a lot of money, but small amounts add” added another. “And, on a fixed income, with Social Security increases being next to nothing, it is a problem.”
The manager of the McDonald’s says they receive a generous senior citizen discount. “However, I could not exempt them from this tax, if it passed” he commented. “They have been coming here for some time, I would hate to lose them as customers, to say nothing of the negative impact this would have on their lives.”
The McDonald’s manager and some members of the group are immigrants from a country with a history of political oppression. As a result, they do not want their names used, and they will not mention which McDonald’s location they use for their meetings. “We have seen school board members attack businesses for not supporting this tax, we do not need problems from elected officials” was the summary one of them offered.
It is also clear that many of the County’s restaurant workers, some of whom are dependent on tips, have organized “get out the vote” drives to see the tax is defeated. “I am sure that when customers see that extra tax added, it will come out of my tip” stated a single mother who works part time as a waitress.