Bloomington Liquor Commission discusses license, video gaming fees

Posted on February 9, 2016

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Liquor Commission held a public hearing Tuesday on the possibility of raising liquor license fees and creating a video gaming fee.

Mayor Tari Renner said license fees haven’t been raised since 1982.

Mugsy’s Pub owner Phil Boulds asked, how much more money does the city need?

“I think you’ve got a lot of taxes that the council has passed and passed,” said Boulds. “You’ve got 4 cents on a gallon of gas. You’ve got a new entertainment tax. You’ve got a lot of new taxes coming in.”

Renner noted they’re not looking at a 200 percent increase.

“That’s not going to get through the council, that’s not on the table, but we are talking about some kinds of cost recovery,” Renner said.

Commission member James Jordan said he’s not in favor of “arbitrarily” raising license fees, but would be in favor of a justified increase of a period of time. He added, when it comes to a gaming fee, he wants to be sure it would be done in a way which keeps Bloomington competitive with other cities.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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