ATHOL – The Select Board has voted in favor of a set of recommendations to increase the fees for a variety of liquor licenses.
At a previous meeting, it had been noted that fees for pouring licenses, all-alcohol package store licenses, and beer and wine licenses hadn’t been changed since 1962.
Before making its decision to increase the fees, the board took a look at the cost of licenses in communities with similar populations, as well as several nearby towns. In most cases, the fees charged by Athol tended to be well below those of the dozen communities used for comparison.
Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said at the Aug. 18 meeting that he and his finance team recommended the following increases: for all-alcohol pouring permits for restaurants and bars, the fee would go from $750 to $1,000; for wine and malt pouring licenses, from $300 to $500; all-alcohol package stores, from $750 to $1,000; for wine and malt package stores, from $300 to $500; for farmer-wineries, from $300 to $500; and for one-day permits, from $25 to $50.
“There is a revenue piece to this,” said Suhoski. “It would be disingenuous for me not to point that out. The increase in the fees will generate more revenue but, at the same time, there’s the cost for the executive assistant to process all of these applications – many times providing technical assistance to the applicant, back-and-forth with the ABCC (Alcohol Beverage Control Commission), time at the meetings. We’re trying to be reasonable here, to stay in the middle of the pack. We don’t need to be the most expensive.”
According to the information Suhoski provided to the board, the increased fees would result in just over $5,000 more revenue for the town annually. The licenses need to be re-applied for annually in January, which is when the new fees take effect.
Mary Holtorf, a member of the Downtown Vitality Committee, urged the board to reject the recommendation to increase the license fees at this time.
“I think it’s a reasonable concept,” she said. “But I also thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could say, ‘We’re not going to do that this year. We’re going to think about it for another year and we’re going to give local businesses a little bit of a break.’
“Everybody’s under financial stress right now,” she continued, “and small businesses in particular. I think most of the businesses in town that have liquor licenses are small businesses and family-owned.”
She also said that keeping fees at their current levels could attract new small businesses to Athol.
Board member Russell Raymond asked about the number of licenses currently available to new applicants. Executive Assistant Bridget Armentrout said there are several all-alcohol pouring licenses available and one wine and malt pouring license. All licenses for package stores are taken, but Suhoski pointed out that the town is seeking approval of home-rule legislation that would allow the town to grant five more all-alcohol and five more beer and wine licenses.
Board member Mitch Grosky said that while he understood Holtorf’s rationale for holding off on raising rates for another year, “To raise those rates for the first time since the ‘60s seems more than justified. And compared to the rates back then; you know, $300 in 1962 was maybe a lot of money – $500 now is a fraction of that. I think it’s more than fair.”
“I have to agree,” said board Chair Bill Chiasson. “I like to be pro-business but if we haven’t raised the rates since 1962, that’s well over 60 years. And what we’re suggesting isn’t even keeping up with the rate of inflation.”
The board voted unanimously to approve the increases proposed by Suhoski, with the exception of increasing one-day licenses from $25 to $50. That fee will remain unchanged. In addition, the all-alcohol license fee for local clubs – which was not included in the list of recommendations – will remain at $750.