Projo Biz Blog

Rhode Island's hotel and food service industries had a surprisingly strong December, according to data released this morning by tax authorities.

Hotels paid $120,064 in local hotel taxes in December, according to the state Department of Revenue and Newport, which collects taxes for hotels in the city. That is an increase of 9.7 percent over the same month a year earlier, when hotels paid $109,477. The December increase follows a slight decrease in November.

The local hotel tax is 1 percent of what a guest pays for a room.

Food service sites, including restaurants, vending machines and ready-to-eat offerings at supermarkets, paid $1,447,666 in meals and beverage taxes in December. That is a decrease of 1.2 percent from the same month in 2007. But it is half the decline reported for November and far less steep than declines in other areas of consumer spending in December. (Read more about the health of the state's restaurants here.)

The meals and beverage tax is 1 percent of the check for food and beverages sold for immediate consumption.

 Tags  beverages hotels meals Newport recession taxes

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