The rising cost of serving drinks

By Chet Williamson

Citing the fact that Worcester has not seen an increase in fees in 21 years, the License Commission recently announced that it will be raising liquor license fees in the city effective July 1. Each license was increased by $750.

A notice was recently sent out by the Commission to all license holders that reads: "At the April 12 License Commission meeting, members conducted a review of liquor licenses fees with the intention of making the fee structure consistent with other communities here in the Commonwealth as well as to reflect the true cost of running the daily operations of the office."

It was signed by Commissioners Kevin O'Sullivan and Peter Lukes. When asked if the recent budgetary woes affected the increase, Lukes says, "I think the budget crunch lit the fire. When we reviewed the fact that we were far behind comparably sized cities, as far as their fee schedule went, combined with the fact that we hadn't raised them in 21 years, it seemed about time."

The Commission compared rates with the cities of Springfield, Lowell, Cambridge, New Bedford, Fall River, Quincy and Lynn. The city of Springfield has a population of just more than 150,000 and charges an all-pouring rate of $2,200 per license. The cities of Fall River, Lynn and New Bedford's rates are $2,100. Quincy was the lowest at $950. Lowell was the highest at $3,250.

By comparison, Worcester's population is around 176,000 and the "Club All Alcoholic" license fee annual rate was $1,750, now it will be $2,500. "We did a cross reference of the other cities and came to the conclusion that that's about where we should be at this point," Lukes says.

When asked if he expects the announcement to be met with resistance, Lukes says, "I think most people would be hard-pressed to argue that no increase is unfair, especially when you compare them in light of other cities."

Jeff Mararian, owner of The Blackstone Tap at 81 Water St., says he hasn't seen his notice yet, but he has questions. "Twenty-one years doesn't mean much. It's really, where is the justification for doing it?" he asks. "Where do the fees go? I don't mind paying them if they are going toward running the License [Commission] as opposed to running something else in the city. Do they have some kind of cost analysis of where the fees are? Are they running into deficit?"

The boost was discussed by City Manager Michael O'Brien in his annual budget report. He said that it is also important to note that alcohol licenses provided to veterans' establishments will increase by only $500 per liquor license. "This change in the liquor license will generate about $205,000 in liquor license revenues to the city based on permits issues in FY 07 and will better address the actual costs of this program," he wrote.

The License Commission is a municipal board. Its members are compensated by the city. In an effort to raise revenue and reduce costs, the City Council recently approved O'Brien's recommendation to eliminate the stipends paid to the members of the License Commission as of July 1. Chairman Kevin O'Sullivan is currently paid $7,171 annually. Other members make $4,427 each.