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 in order to keep them open.

So why do year-round businesses choose to remain open? I believe that the owners feel a sense of responsibility to the residents to make sure needed services are available, e.g. food stores, barbershops, coffee shops, small restaurants and clothing stores. They also are displaying a loyalty to those that support local businesses. In addition, they carry on a sense of community, of which Islanders are justly proud.

Operating under these circumstances, I feel that year-round businesses should be able to pay less in 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, cyclists and other tourists.

Abraham Seiman
Oak Bluffs