Springdale ‘not in any hurry’ on meal tax decision

Springdale leaders are taking it slow in deciding whether to adopt a local meal tax.

“I’m not in any hurry,” Mayor Michael Bishop said.

But “the more I look at it,” he said, “the more it makes sense.”

Still, he doesn’t want to move forward with the tax unless town residents approve the idea with a list of uses outlined in an advisory referendum. No ballot is imminent.

The tax of up to two pennies on the dollar would be added to the bill for restaurant dining, take-out food, prepared drinks and some snacks.

Estimates are the tax would generate as much as $100,000 a year for the Lexington County community that borders the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

So far, town leaders haven’t decided how the tax would be used.

But it likely would be earmarked for walking paths and beautification projects suggested last fall, Bishop said.

Those projects would help spur commercial redevelopment along Platt Springs Road, the plan developed for Town Hall predicts. Platt Springs makes the town of 2,800 residents a hub where commuters can stop, shop and socialize.

Use of the tax is limited to tourism-related projects, but local officials have wide discretion in defining those.

A meal tax would join another on hotel rooms as a way to tap into traffic produced by the airport. The hotel tax generated $63,000 for the town last year, officials say.

If adopted, Springdale would become the fourth of the county’s 14 municipalities to have the tax. Neighboring Cayce and West Columbia and nearby Lexington adopted the tax in the past two years. It is uniform in nearby Columbia and Richland County.

For now, Springdale leaders are explaining the idea to residents and listening to reaction.

Bishop doesn’t favor more taxes. But he said a meal tax is attractive since nonresidents will pay a major share while providing Town Hall an extra source of revenue to make its dreams happen.

“I’m leaning more and more toward it,” he said. And the other six Town Council members are “on the same wavelength.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 11:18 PM.