Sales tax implemented at university dining halls

Students will no longer be able to eat lunch at Elder Dining Hall and those without a meal plan will be charged a sales tax at dining halls as part of Northwestern Dining changes this year.

After feedback from a survey Spring Quarter, NU Dining decided to eliminate lunch at Elder and replace it with Late Night Dining, available using a non-equivalency meal swipe. This decision, made late June, is because students do not have time to walk up to Elder for lunch during the day, said Rachel Tilghman, director of communications and engagement for Sodexo.

Communication sophomore Julianne Lang, who was a Sodexo marketing intern last year, said Sodexo was noticing people did not like Elder and wanted to change it. She said she believes serving late-night at Elder will be popular among students.

“I lived in Willard last year and I really loved being able to go to Fran’s late at night,” she said. “I think Elder will be just as successful,” she said.

Those on a meal plan who pay for all or part of their meal using a meal swipe, equivalency meals, points or Cat Cash do not have to pay the 9 percent sales tax, which took effect Sept. 1.

Previously, all purchases at NU Dining locations were tax free. NU Dining made the change to match Illinois tax laws and billing procedures, Tilghman said.

“It would make us be in compliance with what every other business does,” said Ken Field, director of dining. “We are open to the public and we are competing with other businesses. … It’s just good businesses practices and we want to make sure we are operating with integrity and paying our fair share to the state.”

Field said any business open to the public should charge a sales tax unless its customers are on a payment plan or the business is private or noncompetitive. Although dining halls and restaurants on campus are open to the public, the majority of their patrons are students on a meal plan, Field said.

Having a sales tax but exempting students on meal plans is a common practice at other universities, Tilghman said.

“The meal plans are the only tax-free options for the students,” she said. “It’s a common practice that saves students a little bit of money.”