Any New Year’s resolutions about keeping a careful budget will meet fresh obstacles in January, when students will begin to pay a 7.5 percent tax on meal plans and tickets to events across campus.
Meal plans and event tickets sold on North Carolina university campuses were formerly exempt from the state’s 6.75 percent sales tax, but the N.C. General Assembly repealed that exemption over the summer. The change takes effect Jan. 1.
Each county may set its own rate in addition to the statewide 6.75 percent. In Orange County, the tax will be 7.5 percent. The increase in UNC’s meal plan costs will directly reflect this change.
“To give you an example with real numbers, (consider) the Value 14 — currently that plan is $1,725, so it’s going to go up to $1,854. It’s about a $129 increase,” said Mike Freeman, director of auxiliary services. “But it’s not money we get. It’s going straight to the Department of Revenue.”
The revenue from the increase amounts to $625,000 a semester from meal plans alone.
Freeman said the increase is a subject for concern, but Carolina Dining Services did not have room in its budget to absorb the increase.
“Whenever we buy something local like grass-fed beef, it costs a lot more than regular beef,” Freeman said. “So we could do no more sustainable, no more local, but I don’t believe in that and I don’t think students believe in that.”
The UNC Association of Student Governments has already passed a resolution calling for the reinstatement of meal plans’ tax-exempt status.
“I think students may be unaware because there hasn’t been much publicity, so I think there’s going to be a bit of sticker shock heading into next semester,” said ASG Spokesman Vincent Cahill.