St. Charles easing liquor license fees to help bars, restaurants
By reducing or eliminating certain liquor license fees for the upcoming fiscal year, St. Charles officials have found another way to help restaurants and bars hammered by financial struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina issued an executive order on Friday, and at Monday's city council meeting he received the backing of a 9-0 vote from the city's aldermen.
According to City Administrator Mark Koenen, the decision will cost St. Charles $120,000 of the $230,000 in anticipated liquor license fees for the fiscal year that starts May 1. The savings for restaurants and bars, however, will be significant and arrive at a time when they're trying to recover from months of restrictions on indoor service.
"Given the fact that we will be entering that season, so to speak, going through that application process," Rogina said, "I thought that if we were going to do this, it would be incumbent upon us to move on it. So I did move on it."
The restaurant and bar liquor license fee will be waived for the coming fiscal year, saving establishments $1,200. Breweries and wineries will save $1,600, hotels will save $2,000 and individual locations such as the Arcada Theatre and the Q-Center also will save $2,000.
In addition, the price of a late-night permit will decrease from $800 to $400 for the 1 a.m. permit and from $2,300 to $1,150 for the 2 a.m. permit.
The liquor license fee waiver does not include essential businesses, such as grocery stores, that were able to stay open during the pandemic. Koenen said the budgeted revenue from the liquor tax for the current fiscal year, which ends on April 30, is $1.8 million.
"It's not a shotgun approach because we're not saying we're going to waive all liquor licenses," Koenen said. "We're saying we're going to focus who we waive the liquor fee for, and it is predominantly those folks who provide for dining or bar service.
"We're trying to build a bridge so those people can get through the pandemic," he said.