When Vienna Town Manager Mercury Payton shares his proposed new budget in early March, it won’t include any meals tax increase.
The Vienna Town Council agreed on Monday (Jan. 27) to defer voting on a proposal to temporarily raise the tax on meals sold at restaurants from 3% to 4% in order to fund an aquatics and fitness center at the Annex, a 3-acre site at 301 Center Street South that was previously occupied by the Faith Baptist Church.
After getting a presentation from consultants on the project’s possible costs at a work session on Jan. 21, the council decided to postpone consideration of the tax increase until Aug. 25 so its members and the public could digest the additional information.
“It is important that we allow sufficient time to do our due diligence to ensure whatever decision we make is in the best interest of our community,” Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert said in a press release. “This facility would be a big investment, and before voting on how to fund its construction, we must be sure that we will have the resources to maintain it once it is built.”
Now vacant after hosting the Vienna Police Department’s temporary headquarters for about two years, the Annex has been subject to much scrutiny and debate, as officials assess the best future use for a property that the town acquired for $5.5 million in 2020.
A study conducted by the consulting firms Kimmel Bogrette Architecture & Kimley Horn recommended building a public pool and fitness facility on the site based on feedback from the community.
In a report presented to the town council on Sept. 30, 2024, the consultants estimated that the facility could draw 7,335 members from Vienna and the surrounding area, and cost $21 million to $26.5 million.
Though they expressed support at that meeting for getting the center built and operating by 2030, council members have subsequently become more wary of committing to a sizable expense for a town whose current budget totals $53.7 million.
At a public hearing in November, some local restaurant owners raised concerns about the impact of a tax increase on their businesses, though there were also community members supportive of the project. The council voted to defer a decision after the hearing and again on Dec. 9.
“This is a big expense, so we really need concrete numbers that it’s affordable,” Councilmember Chuck Anderson said at the Dec. 9 meeting. “I haven’t been convinced yet that it is, and if there is an upwelling of support for this and there’s new ideas about capital contributions and we can refine the revenue expense numbers, maybe we need to think big things. But as of now, I believe we’re not quite there yet.”
At the Jan. 21 work session, Kimmel Bogrette and Ballard*King, a consulting firm that specializes in recreational and park facility studies, shared details of how they determined that a pool and fitness facility would be feasible for Vienna and how they reached their membership and cost projections.
Projecting that about 13.7% or 5,482 of the households in Vienna would use the facility, along with 36,419 households that are outside the town but within a 10-minute drive, the consultants proposed a membership fee structure that would charge $55 per month or $660 per year for an adult town resident. Rates would be higher for non-town residents.
In comparison, the Town of Herndon offers annual passes to its community center, which includes a swimming pool, for $504 for adult town residents.
Before voting to defer consideration of the meals tax increase to August, Councilmember Roy Baldwin observed that the additional time could be “prudent” when ongoing upheaval in the federal government has created economic uncertainty for both many residents and the town.
“Although August 25 sounds like it’s not going to happen until next century, I think we need that much time,” he said.
More from the Town of Vienna on the proposed meals tax increase, which would be in place for 10 years if approved:
This is the third time the Council has postponed the vote on the proposed 1% temporary meals tax increase. The extra 1% would be dedicated to paying for the design and construction of a new aquatics and fitness facility on the former Town Annex site located at 301 Center St., S, which the Town purchased in 2020 from the former Faith Baptist Church. The Town’s current 3% meals tax is among the lowest in the region and pays for capital projects such as roads, building improvements and park projects. It applies to prepared, ready-to-consume meals, and does not apply to standard groceries.
The temporary meals tax increase was used once before, from 2002 to 2008 to pay for the Vienna Town Green, which now serves as a central gathering space for public and private events and activities. The Vienna Town Council believes a new aquatic and fitness center would further enhance the community’s quality of life and fulfill a longstanding community wish. If the temporary 1% meals tax is approved, the facility would be constructed by 2030.
