According to Mayor Fuller, they are bouncing back. In her weekly newsletter, Mayor Fuller, drawing on the final quarter of FY2022 meals taxes states, “Newton’s restaurants are on the rebound after a devastating drop in customers in FY2021.” Citing revenues during the past fiscal year, she reports that they “are very nearly at pre-pandemic levels.”
Greg Reibman, President of the Charles River Regional Chamber, suggests that the Mayor is partially right. He argues that “while a near-return to pre-COVID tax collections is great for the city’s piggy bank, it’s far from a ‘complete rebound for these businesses’,” citing the importance of factoring in the costs of labor, food, and energy — all without government assistance programs that were previously but no longer available.
Lauren Berman, owner of ALL Over Newton, a marketing firm dedicated to helping Newton’s small businesses, shares the Chamber’s concerns. She said, “Higher excise tax payments by restaurants don’t tell the whole story. Restaurants have increased prices because their costs have sky-rocketed, so of course they’re paying more in taxes, but their margins are thinner than ever.“ Berman also pointed to the recent influx of new restaurants in Newton and suspects they may be helping drive up overall revenues for the industry, yet at the expense of the city’s established eateries. “Now is when we all should be supporting our local favorite restaurants,” she said, “to make sure they’re here next year.”
