Food tax plan backed, derided

Durham voters will decide Nov. 4

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CORRECTION

A story Wednesday in the Triangle & Co. section about the proposed restaurant-meals tax in Durham incorrectly described the political activity of the Americans for Prosperity lobbying group. Its Web site contains commentary opposing Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, but it is not sponsoring anti-Obama campaign ads in North Carolina.

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DURHAM -- Supporters of a 1 percent tax on restaurant food held a pep rally Tuesday afternoon. Opponents were on hand as well.

City and county officials, beneficiaries of the proposed tax, local boosters and assorted interested parties gathered at the Hayti Heritage Center to officially open their "Taste for Durham's Future" campaign. The tax, the subject of a referendum Nov. 4, would go primarily to build and expand amenities such as museums, the civic center, parks and greenways.

That is the trouble, said Joyce C. Nichols, an opponent of the tax who attended the event.

"It has nothing for the schools and nothing for health care," said Nichols, a former member of the Durham Housing Authority board. "I don't want to see this."

The legislature approved a vote on the tax this summer, with provisions that 80 percent of the revenue be used for civic amenities, 10 percent for marketing and 5 percent each for "community cleanup" and worker training.

Speaking Tuesday, Mayor Bill Bell emphasized the tax's unanimous support from the City Council and County Board of Commissioners. Steering Committee Co-chairman Robert Teer Jr. said 40 percent of the tax would be paid by visitors to Durham County. Commissioners Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow said it would be a progressive tax, paid more by upper-income diners who generally spend a higher proportion of their money on prepared food than people of more modest means.

Opponents take a different view. Lavonia Allison, chairwoman of the influential Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, lobbied against the referendum at the General Assembly and said last week that the tax would be regressive, imposing a disproportionate burden on lower-income people.

Dallas Woodhouse, state director of Americans for Prosperity, which he described as a "limited-government, free-market group," said Allison has allied with him in forming a Durham organization to oppose the tax.

"Our slogan is going to be a lot simpler," he said: "Food Costs Enough."

According to its Web site, www.americansforprosperity.org, Americans for Prosperity is a lobbying organization based in Washington with branches in 22 states. It is currently sponsoring ads in North Carolina against U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.