There’s a lot of talk about a prepared food tax in Greensboro.

But according to Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan that’s all it is at this point – talk.

Vaughan said, “It’s in a very preliminary stage.  There is nothing on the table at this point.”

Vaughan said that currently the city did not have the authority to implement a prepared food tax and that the North Carolina state legislature would have to act to give that ability to the city.

There is nothing on the 2023 Greensboro City Council legislative agenda pertaining to a prepared food tax.  The legislative agenda is a list of items that the City Council would like for the legislature to pass, and for a prepared food tax to be implemented, the first step is legislative action.

The fact that placing the prepared food tax on the legislative agenda for the 2023 session was not publicly discussed by the City Council is noteworthy.  Of course, a prepared food tax could have been discussed at length in the private sessions where this City Council likes to handle business.

About the prepared food tax, Vaughan said, “I do think that it is worth investigating income streams that our peer cities have.  When we are up against Charlotte and Raleigh, that is one of the many income streams they have that we do not.”

Vaughan noted that Dare County down at the coast was one of the six jurisdictions in North Carolina that currently have a prepared food tax.

Vaughan said, “If we want to stay competitive, we have to look at new income streams.”

Vaughan said, “Right now we are the youth soccer mecca, but there are other cities that have newer and shinier facilities.  We want to be able to stay competitive.”

She said that it made sense to look at different ways for paying for maintaining the facilities Greensboro has, as well as building new facilities, and a prepared food tax is one of the income streams the city needs to consider.