From Alden Leonard. Contact him at alden[AT]borderstan.com and follow him @aldenleonard on Twitter.
As summer heats up and DC’s food trucks ready themselves for another lucrative warm season, brick-and-mortar restaurants in the District also have something to celebrate.
The fojol bros. food truck. (Borderstan file photo)
DCist reported that last week, a measure levying taxes on food truck sales passed the City Council. This tax disparity was a major thorn in the side of traditional restaurants, who saw their mobile counterparts as having an unfair advantage.
The 10% sales tax (same as what you pay in a restaurant) would replace the current $1,500 annual fee street vendors pay. According to District’s chief financial officer, the city’s 1,200 food trucks and mobile vendors are expected to contribute more than $1.2 million in taxes to the city each year.
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Will D.C. go to a taxicab medallion system? (Luis Gomez Photos)
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Bye Bye Blue Boxes
We heard a while back that the Post Office at 14th and T Streets NW is bidding us adieu. In the same vein, if you’ve wondering why it’s not always easy, it’s because the blue mailboxes have also been slowly disappearing all over town, as DCist reports. It’s apparently been quite subtle — 194 boxes have already been removed and we haven’t really noticed (which obviously justifies the course of action). No, they’re not going away all together, but you may have to work a little harder to find one.
Medallion System for D.C. Taxicabs?
And speaking of going away, are taxis the next to thing to decrease in numbers? WTOP brings us the story about the D.C. Council’s consideration of requiring all taxis to have a special medallion that would allow them to operate in the District. Not only would it limit the number of cabs that we have, but it could also bring in $200 to $400 million to the government. Stay tuned for more info about this one.
