Drink Up, D.C., the Budget Could Use Those Tax Dollars


 

As part of his 2013 budget rolled out last month, Mayor Vince Gray proposed that hours for liquor sales at bars, restaurants and stores be extended. Under Gray’s proposal, bars would be allowed to extend weekday and weekend hours by an hour—booze could be sold until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends—while liquor stores could start selling at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday. (You could also buy beer and wine at the grocery store starting at 7 a.m. on Sundays.) All told, the changes, which would take effect in October if they passed the D.C. Council, could bring in $5.3 million for the city in 2013. (That’s a small portion of the $172 million budget deficit, $69.4 million of which was closed through “revenue initiatives.”) This isn’t the first time that D.C. has tweaked its liquor sales hours, nor is it the only jurisdiction to do so in the quest for ever-scarcer tax dollars. As part of Gray’s 2012 budget, the tax on alcohol went from nine to 10% and hours at stores were extended. [dcist.com/2011/09/drinking_our_way_to_balanced_budget.php}(http://dcist.com/2011/09/drinking_our_way_to_balanced_budget.php) and bars and restaurants were allowed to  start serving earlier in the morning. [http://dcist.com/2011/10/early-to-rise_brunchers_can_get_sun.php}(http://dcist.com/2011/10/early-to-rise_brunchers_can_get_sun.php)

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