DECATUR - If the recession is causing people to reconsider going out to eat, it isn't apparent everywhere.

Bunny Lucas manages Coney Mc-Kane's on Prairie Avenue, a restaurant she said is seeing higher numbers than it did last year.

Lucas' sister, Lea Stukins, who owns Coney McKane's and Block's Brewery, said numbers go up and down throughout the year, making the recession's effect hard to gauge.

"Things are always up and down," Stukins said. "I would say it hasn't dropped off. I think because Decatur in general never really rode the wave of the high prices that we also don't feel the slumps."

Lucas said she doesn't believe the economy has kept people at home in front of the stove, but she has noticed it affecting some people's habits when they visit her restaurant.

"People are eating healthier, drinking a little more water, ordering a few more salads, maybe a little wiser in what they buy," she said.

One reason Decatur residents still might be eating out is that it's a comfort during otherwise trying times, Lucas said.

"One of the few things you can enjoy when things are bad is to go out and eat," she said.

It helps to reinforce what city Finance Director Ron Neufeld said at a recent city council meeting. Despite state taxes that are being paid to the city late and a decline in sales tax, a group of local taxes instituted a few years ago were still bringing in about as much as expected.

"I think they've all done fine," Neufeld said. "Sales tax is down everywhere in the country right now, but the telecommunications tax is holding its own, the utilities tax is holding its own, and the food and beverage tax is holding its own."

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Those three local taxes were all instituted back in 2002 at the same time the city council raised the sales tax, Neufeld said. It was an attempt at chipping away at significant deficit spending that, at the time, had the city's back against the wall.

"(The city was) spending millions more than what they were taking in," Neufeld said. "The fund balance was going down very quickly. They didn't have any choice but to pass those revenues."

Neufeld said those same efforts seem to be providing stable revenue to the city now, in a time when the entire country is still reeling from joblessness and low spending.

Another aspect of the local food and beverage tax is how well grocery stores are doing when compared to restaurants. Most food at grocery stores isn't taxed under food and beverage, and recent statewide numbers from an Illinois Department of Revenue quarterly report identified a slightly growing tendency for people to buy from the grocery store rather than eat out.

Aaron Fritz, assistant manager at Save-A-Lot on East William Street, said his business is doing well, but the money isn't always coming from consumers. Fritz said Save-A-Lot's business, which has always seen a large number of customers who use food stamps or other such aid, seems to be relying more heavily on it.

"It seems like people are getting more and more food assistance," Fritz said. "I would say the majority of our business is through LINK and WIC. From what I've seen so far, I would probably say 75 percent."

The other taxes are based less around residents' discretion and more around their need, such as the utility tax. Neufeld said that can sometimes depend more on other factors.

"We are running a little lower (than last year), but again, that could have just as much to do with the weather as anything else," Neufeld said.

The telecommunications tax is running ahead of what it did last year, so people aren't reigning in their cell phone habits either, Neufeld said.

"The big factor is if people would stop using their telephones," Neufeld said. "I don't see that as that plausible."

As for the effect of the food and beverage tax on business, some feel it adds a burden to restaurant owners. Terry Munson, owner of The Cow Depot on East U.S. 36, said it's something customers notice.

"It gives the city revenue, but small businesses get squeezed," Munson said. "I know when they first came out with it, customers were upset."

Lucas said the slightly higher bill is a common complaint, but it is one that customers seem willing to overcome.

"People still comment on (the food and beverage tax)," Lucas said. "People still say it's more expensive to eat here than to buy something in Lincoln or Forsyth, but we call it an entertainment tax. We'll do something to make them laugh instead."

klowe@herald-review.com|421-7985