I'm assuming this would apply to Seekonk as well, that a meals tax would be well-funded by all the eating establishments in Seekonk, but we wouldn't necessarily reap the full benefit of it.
Excerpt from the Sun Chronicle:
NORTH ATTLEBORO - A statewide meals and rooms tax would not be the boon to the town that it should be because the money would not be distributed to communities that collect it, Town Administrator Mark Fisher says.
Concerns about the 1 percent meals and rooms tax proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick were among the issues selectmen discussed with the town's state legislators at their last meeting Thursday.
Fisher said that the meals and rooms tax money would be distributed using the formula to distribute lottery aid, instead of based upon where food or rooms are purchased.
That means the town would miss out on potential revenue, Fisher said. He noted the town would stand to collect $680,000 each year if the money were distributed based upon where it was collected, but the amount drops to $406,000 under the lottery formula because the remainder would be parceled out to other towns.