A lodging tax would provide another source of income for

A lodging tax would provide another source of income for the county. While we don’t suggest that such a tax, by itself, would solve the county’s financial problems, it would help.

The tax would also be a so-called “luxury tax,” levied on disposable income. It would not fall on people who can’t afford it, since it would be paid only by those who frequent the county’s lodging places. Presumably, those people are not using their rent money for a weekend in the country, and it’s doubtful that a tax of several percent tacked onto their lodging bill would deter them from returning to the county.

Rappahannock would not be alone in levying such a tax. It’s a common practice in areas with heavy tourist traffic, like the seashore. Many communities there have both a restaurant and a lodging tax.

Closer to home, Washington, Va. passed such a meals and lodging tax more than a year ago. Although the proprietors of The Inn at Little Washington opposed it, arguing (perhaps with some justification) that it singled out their business, they continue to turn away many customers each week. The 2 1/2 percent tax has apparently not hurt their business, or that of the town’s other restaurants and B & Bs, which also opposed the tax.

Tourism is big business in Rappahannock County. Those visitors spend money while they are here — money which creates jobs for the county’s residents. There’s no reason why a small portion of that money shouldn’t also benefit the county’s government — and at the same time lessen the weight of its residents’ increasingly onerous tax burden.

Rappahannock's

representatives

Listed belovvare the names, addresses and telephone numbers of

Rappahannock County’s elected representatives in the Virginia

General Assembly. They may be reached at either their district

offiee| or at their offices in Richmond.