The views expressed in this column are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily those of the ownership or management of this newspaper.

A Utah business association is misguidedly biting a hand that feeds it – and it really is all about food.

With the exception of hotels and airlines, no other retail group benefits more from tourism than restaurants. Granted, the bulk of a Utah restaurant’s sales come from locals, but tourists spend nearly 96 percent of their food dollar in restaurant meals compared to about 40 percent of non-travelers.

In order to increase tourism, legislators long ago gave counties the right to place a 1 percent additional sales tax on restaurant food (and a similar surcharge on hotel rooms and car rentals) to boost spending on tourist-related projects. I’m sure some counties have at times used the tax for questionable items, but by and large the projects have been tied to attracting visitors from other states or counties.

Davis County, for instance, has used the restaurant tax to fund the Davis Conference Center, the South Davis Recreation Center ice sheet, and Legacy Events Center FairPark. Art council concerts and theater productions also eye a small piece.

Now the Utah Restaurant Association is trying to overturn the tax, supporting a bill which would most likely eliminate the small tax at restaurants while allowing an increased sales tax on everything else.

Commissioner Louenda Downs says she doesn’t think any restaurant patron notices the tax. She’s absolutely right. If you buy a Happy Meal the additional tax is four pennies; ordering two grilled salmon dinners at Red Lobster will set you back an additional 31 cents; that soft drink at Pace’s ends up costing one whole extra penny.

The restaurant group bristles at the idea that the tax is a targeted tax. Sure it is, but that’s not unusual. There are extra taxes on phone usage and utilities; the state charges sales tax on toilet paper, but not on a can of peas; buy a car tire and you pay a “recycling” tax/fee.

As long as the tax doesn’t become unwieldy, we accept such taxes for the public good (recycling, the 911 emergency system, etc.).

And there’s no evidence that the additional 1 percent hurts restaurants, despite a so-called “study” by the restaurant association. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Sorry, dear, we can’t order a plate of nachos because we’ll have to pay two cents more in additional tax”?

The challenge facing Utah’s restaurant industry is growing the economy and solving the problem of the recent non-availability of liquor licenses. The restaurant tax is a flea, not a dragon.