On September 1st, the combined Virginia state and local sales tax rate went up more than 11%, from 4.5% to a full 5% on everything but food. A new tax on vending machine sales was pegged at 6%.

In an effort to mitigate the impact of these regressive taxes on low-income families, the combined tax on "sales of food for home consumption" remained unchanged at 3% through June 30, 2005. On July 1, 2005, the tax on food is scheduled to be reduced from 3% to 2.5%, with the goal of gradually bringing the food tax down to only 1.5% by July 1, 2007.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that state and local governments derive around 1/3 of their annual revenues from sales and use taxes, and Middleburg reportedly received around $40,000 in 2003.

Thus, if nothing else, the sales tax provides some incentive to shop locally. Virginia sales taxes are lower than those in all its neighbor states except Maryland (5%) and North Carolina (4.5%). And shopping locally means that a portion of the tax goes into the coffers of local governments.

Some local merchants have told the Eccentric that most affluent consumers in Middleburg may not even notice the increase. For lower-income families, however, payment of an unavoidable and regressive tax eats up a considerably larger portion of total family income, and may well generate complaints.

For those who can afford to shop online, sales tax avoidance is a major motivator (in some surveys second only to "convenience" as a reason for doing so.) Catalog mail order shoppers also tend to avoid paying local sales taxes, despite legal requirements to report all such purchases and pay the tax directly to the state if the seller is not already doing so. Most purchasers, however, seem to be either unaware of the requirement, unsure of how to comply with it, or simply indifferent.

Other tax increases are also now in effect: the fee for recording deeds for land went up 150%, from 10 cents on the dollar to 25 cents; a pack of cigarettes now carries a 20-cent state tax; and a state tax exemption for utility companies has been repealed, which means that telephone and electricity rates may well be raised to compensate for its loss.