— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
I guess the city believes I should dump another $500 in their coffers. Way back on July 15th (we're really current with the news here), the California Music and Culture Association basted out an email to their members warning of a new tax on booze:
SAY NO TO THE ALCOHOL FEE!
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in considering an alcohol fee that would tack $0.076 on to every ounce of alcohol in a beverage. After hearing a presentation and public comment on the item, the Small Business Commission successfully requested that ordinance sponsor Supervisor John Avalos hold the legislation until an economic impact study is conducted.
CMAC opposes the proposed fee. Restaurants, hotels and bars and their employees have been among the hardest hit by the economic crisis and simply cannot afford to absorb the costs brought on by new fees. Click here for more information on the fee and email us at government@cmacsf.org to learn about how to get involved.
Save the date: The Small Business Commission will likely hear the legislation again on Monday, August 9. Depending on their decision, the legislation is anticipated to be heard at the Board's Budget and Finance Committee in early September after the Board's August recess.
Before you go raid a Foot Locker screaming “I'm not paying 91 cents extra a PBR!!,” remember it is only 7.6 cents on every cent of alcohol. Considering how low the alcohol percentage in a PBR is, it only amounts to 5 to 10 cents per drink. Of course, it's already being labeled as a job killer:
So why does the Board of Supervisors want to destroy America? KTVU reports:
A San Francisco Supervisors committee is considering a proposal to charge a new fee on alcoholic beverages to help cover the costs of alcohol related health care.
Seems reasonable enough to me, especially because I've argued in favor of this sort of tax in the past. However, CMCA says many smaller venues already run on a low profit margin and because the tax is going to be levied on distributors, they actually expect the price to venue to be higher than 5-10 cents a drink. The effect of such a tax? Those smaller venues won't be able to eat the cost of the tax, they'll go out of business and we're going to drink in Oakland to save money. From the KTVU article:
“The customer is going to choose to drink in Oakland or Sonoma or Napa or wherever, but why here?” asks Ron Silberstein, owner of the Thirsty Bear Brewery. “How special is San Francisco at the end of the day when we're all scrimping and saving?”
Why would we drink here in the face of such a tax? Because, at the end of the day, no one is going to go to Oakland every time he/she/it wants to get wasted.
Comments (5)
i WISH i could go to oakland everytime i wanted to get wasted
The five cents will passed up the chain with each person in the supply chain adding “maintaining their profit margin” on top, so the end affect will be a lot higher, more like 12-18 cents when it gets to retail.
I don’t think it will kill jobs, but it won’t be unnoticeable.
people are going to drink no matter what. 5 cents or 18 cents isn’t going to prevent anyone from buying fewer drinks.
It means $2 PBRs will now be $2.25. I hate quarters.
Restaurants operate on the tightest of margins. At least in the trendoid joints I’ve toiled in for the past 20 years, rich doctor and dentist investors are the real cash flow, not the day-to-day profits. Bars, not so tight yet still not instant moneymakers. I understand this. However, I also understand a little too well the cold cold heart of many a restaurant owner–remember now that the food service industry is the last bastion of absolutely NO BENEFITS AT ALL; zip zero, and the GGRA has quite an impressive lobby against any and all proposals to further cut into that slim profit margin.
Again, I get how tight money is in the resto biz, but every single blessed restaurant I’ve ever worked in (usually the expensive and/or trendy sort with over-educated staff) raises their prices 5-10% every 6 months, recession or boom year be damned. So things like mandatory sick pay, Healthy SF, and now an alcohol tax–well just take a deep breath all youse owners.