The Cascade Locks City Council will have a Prepared Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Tax on the November ballot. If passed, the 5% tax would be levied on food and beverages sold for immediate consumption, like salads from salad bars, sandwiches, hot prepared foods, and scooped frozen desserts.Â
The Cascade Locks City Council will have a Prepared Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Tax on the November ballot. If passed, the 5% tax would be levied on food and beverages sold for immediate consumption, like salads from salad bars, sandwiches, hot prepared foods, and scooped frozen desserts.Â
CASCADE LOCKS — The Cascade Locks City Council has decided to put a Prepared Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Tax on the November ballot. All councilors and Mayor Brenda Wood voted in favor.
If passed by voters, the 5% tax would be levied on food and beverages sold for immediate consumption, like salads from salad bars, sandwiches, hot prepared foods, and scooped frozen desserts. With the majority of the tax falling on tourists, city leadership hopes to fund emergency services without adding tax pressure to residents, especially because more than half of the emergency services calls are outside the city, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News.
The tax will not apply to groceries.
Councilor Bernard Seeger noted that, if voters approve the measure, he does not want the entire amount to be used for General Fund relief, but to go toward capital and other improvements to the fire and emergency services department.
Additional deliberation on how to apply the extra money will take place during next year’s budget process, should the measure pass.Â
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