Pittsfield Licensing Board to Scale Back Proposed Fee Increases
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William Molner said the proposed fees were too much for the small business owners.
It's a place where neighbors gather, knock back a couple beers and watch the game.
Owner William Molner doesn't want to raise his prices. He wants it to be affordable for the neighborhood he serves.
Recently, he got notice of how much his property taxes were increasing. In January, the minimum wage is going up, meaning he'll pay more for his employees. His liability insurance is going up. There is general insurance. There is insurance on the inventory.
And when he got his packet to renew his liquor license, he was told there could be a 14 percent increase in that coming.
"We are trying to put money in the bank, trying to make a living, trying to put food on the table and if the fees continue to go up and up and up, we have to pass that on to our customers," Molner told the Licensing Board on Monday, during the public hearing regarding the fee increases.
"Right now I think my prices are reasonable ... We want to keep it a neighborhood bar, come in watch a game, have a couple of beers, and still be able to afford it."
The Licensing Board has been looking to raise fees for liquor licenses. The fees hadn't been raised in nine years and the cost is less than other cities and towns.
"From a comparison of those fees, Pittsfield had an opportunity to increase fees," Licensing Board member Diane Pero said.
The city has been seeing cost increases during the past decade — including the cost for City Hall personnel to process the licenses and so forth — and revenues from the licenses hadn't gone up. Further, city leadership has been pushing for ways to increase revenues as the city approaches the levy ceiling, so only so much more can be drawn from property taxes in the coming year.
"The city is looking for new revenue sources wherever feasible," said Pero, who headed the petition, saying that the increases proposed would bring in an additional $13,000.
For Molner, the increase proposed for his all-alcohol license would have raised the price from $1,100 to $1,250.
But after hearing from Molner, the board decided to scale back the original proposal and will now take a look at what a 7 percent increase in liquor licensing fees will do — cutting the proposal in half.
Licensing Board member Richard Stockwell said the $150 increase may not be a lot for places like the Crowne Plaza or Hotel on North, but when it comes to the small businesses, it can make a big impact.
"I'd like to raise some money for the city but I don't want to put a small guy out of business ... There are still a few small bars in town; I would not want them to go away. I think they bring a little character to the city," Stockwell said.
The Madison dates back to 1935 and is one of those neighborhood bars remaining. Licensing Board member Thomas Campoli said to attempt to craft different all-liquor license fees for different scales of businesses is a difficult task and not one that should be pursued.
Instead, he joined the unanimous opinion that a fee increase should be imposed, but to a lesser extent than proposed.
"It is a 14 percent increase, dollar wise it isn't a big increase, but 14 percent is big when you are trying to make ends meet," Campoli said.
Chairman Carmen Massimiano argued that the city has so many licenses out there that their value has decreased.
"I think people are working awfully hard to survive," the chairman said. "It is a modest increase, we don't do it often, but I think in the end that if we go to the Madison and order something, we're going to pay for it."
The board will take up the issue at its next meeting on Dec. 19 after Pero crafts another spreadsheet outlining the new costs.
The board held a posted public hearing on the issue in September, but no licenseholders attended so a second hearing was scheduled for Monday and licenseholders notified by mail with their renewal packets.
But, overall, Molner was the only bar owner to speak at all on the issue Monday — which surprised board members. Molner was persuasive enough to make the board reconsider its proposal, which would go into effect for the 2018 renewals.
Tags: alcohol license, license board,
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