To the Editor:
Many Islanders understand that summer-only businesses are more profitable than year-round businesses. For one, year-round businesses have to provide staffing even on slow days or evenings. They also have to compete with online purchases. In addition, the business owners usually have to spend lonely hours in their establishments to keep them open.
So why do year-round businesses remain open? I believe the owners feel a sense of responsibility to the residents to make sure needed services are available, e.g., food stores, barber shops, coffee shops, small restaurants, and clothing stores. In addition, they carry on a sense of community of which Islanders are justly proud.
I think that year-round businesses operating under these circumstances should be able to pay less taxes than summer-only businesses, as they are much more valuable to residents than T-shirt shops, high-end restaurants which are generally unavailable during the summer without an advance reservation, and snack shops which cater to beachgoers, bicyclists, and tourists.
Abraham Seiman
Oak Bluffs
