Last modified: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 2:19 AM EDT Mayor unveils meals tax details BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - City restaurants need to generate $50 million in sales for the city to reap $515,000 on a 1 percent meals tax that Mayor Kevin Dumas has used to plug a big revenue gap in the 2010 budget. That's a lot of steaks, seafood and french fries, and some city councilors questioned whether local eateries can pull in that much cash, but Dumas said his administration ran the numbers with information from food industry sources, and they checked out. He, too, was stunned by the income, but told councilors Monday the figures could well be served up by the city's 71 restaurants. "At first I said, 'No way, something must be wrong,'" he said. "But we figured out how much each restaurant would have to do for each day it's open and it's a reasonable number," he said. "The numbers add up very quickly to that dollar amount." He said some McDonald's restaurants are known to rake in $10,000 a day. The $515,000 is an important gap filler for this year's budget and is based on 10 months of restaurant revenue to allow time for the tax process to get up and running. Dumas is also using $600,000 from the stabilization account and saving another $530,000 with unpaid worker furloughs to balance the $104 million spending plan. The meals tax, which must still be authorized by the state Legislature and approved by the council, will also help to support future budgets, Dumas said. "We're not just worried about today, but we're worried about sustainability going forward," he said. Councilor Jerry Chase couldn't quite swallow the numbers. "I reserve the right to remain skeptical," Chase said.