Mike McKee was busy serving customers at Moonrakers Pub on Friday afternoon, but he still took the time to weigh in with his thoughts on the death of the HST.
"I'm disappointed," said the general manager of the popular Uptown New Westminster pub. "I thought the tax was a good tax and customers were getting used to it. Now, things are changing again and we don't know what the government's Plan B is going to be. ... What a mess."
McKee added he wasn't surprised at the results and he's not looking forward to the next couple of years as the government transitions back to an old tax regime.
Down the street, Peter Saran, manager of the River's Reach Pub, said he's happy for all his customers, who will save money with the extinguishing of the HST, but he knows there is a lot of accounting work he'll have to do.
"When the HST came in, it was an accounting nightmare for me," said Saran. "We wanted to make (the tax) less impactful for customers so we levelled off the pricing."
That meant Saran was manually inputting lower prices into the restaurant's computer system so that food prices overall would only go up two per cent - as opposed to the seven per cent PST.
"I worked a solid week, starting at 6 a.m. each day to work on that," said Saran. "I don't know if that's what I'll have to do when they (get rid of) the HST."
Saran, reached by The Record while on vacation in Osoyoos, said he still has to see if restaurant meals qualify for its former PST exemption.
"Are we going to get the exemption?" he said. "If that's the case, at the end of the day, customers will see their bills getting a bit smaller."
The mixed opinions are in contrast to comments issued by Mark von Schellwitz, Western Canada vice-president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
"After months of tax policy uncertainty, our members welcome the certainty and food tax fairness that comes with the HST decision. We expect that PST will be restored with the same exemptions to once again tax all food equally in British Columbia," said von Schellwitz in a press release.
He added the HST was problematic for restaurants because it created an unlevel playing field, as food purchased in a restaurant was taxed while most food purchased in a supermarket is not.
Elections B.C. announced the HST referendum results Friday morning, with 54.73 per cent voting to get rid of the tax, and 45.27 per cent voting to keep it.
The referendum was conducted by mail-in ballot. Nearly 1.6 million people responded, about half of B.C.'s eligible voters.
The 12 per cent HST combines the seven per cent provincial sales tax and the five per cent federal goods and service tax. It came into effect July 1, 2010.
Before July 1, 2010, restaurant meals only had the five per cent GST added to the bill.
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