By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Liquor Commission will look at an ordinance next month to increase liquor license fees.
The ordinance will likely call for the fees to go up by 10 percent a year for the next two years. Mayor Tari Renner said these fees haven’t gone up for over 30 years and the cost of liquor enforcement has gone up.
“And it’s the citizens, the taxpayers, who have been bearing all of that cost for 33 years,” said Renner. “Taxpayers spend $130,000 a year for police officer buyback in downtown, not counting all the other cost of liquor enforcement.
“We’re attempting to recover some of those costs.”
The ordinance will also include some type of fee for video gaming machines.
If the ordinance is recommended by the liquor commission, it would go to the city council for approval. The council would also have the ability to tweak the ordinance as aldermen see fit.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
