Elgin lowers liquor license fees

Elgin business owners who sell alcohol will get a break on the liquor license fees, even as they deal with an extra burden associated with a 3 percent alcoholic beverage tax.

City Council members, in their role as liquor commissioners, approved a 56 percent across-the-board reduction in license fees during the liquor commission meeting Wednesday. The license year begins May 1 and the new tax takes effect July 1.

Some commissioners expressed concern in reducing the license fees for businesses who have had complaints filed against them, as if the reduction were a reward for bad behavior.

“Rewarding them while they still are having issues with the city is not something I really have interest in doing,” said Commissioner Richard Dunne.

Ultimately the reduction was approved unanimously with the caveat that officials would police violations more harshly.

“The message I would like to send is we’re not going to be as tolerant,” said Mayor David Kaptain. “If you make a mistake, penalties are going to be more severe.”

The alcoholic beverage tax is expected to place an administrative burden on business owners, which is why city officials originally explored the possibility of reducing license fees. The tax itself is expected to be passed on to consumers.

City Manager Sean Stegall told the liquor commissioners the license fee reduction is something store owners will feel immediately. Licenses will range from $11 to $3,080 for the next application year instead of the $25 to $7,000 range of the current year.

Another change approved by commissioners Wednesday was to require fingerprinting with background checks for liquor license applicants.

Corporation Counsel William Cogley said the change would add a $23 cost to each new application but give the city more clarity in researching criminal histories — it would prevent people from using false names and make it easier to find the true records of people with common names.

Licenses are not generally approved for anyone with felony convictions.

Elgin is in the middle of a citywide user fee study, the results of which could prompt further changes to the cost of liquor licenses. Business owners should not necessarily expect the 56 percent reduction to hold for more than one year.