The city of Eureka has eased some business owners’ burden for two years.
The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Jan. 19 to refund liquor license fees that were collected from Aug. 1, 2020, to July 31, and to waive the fee for 2021-2022.
Mayor Sean Flower said he hopes the move helps local businesses and restaurants. He said a full-service restaurant that is open on Sunday will save about $1,500 in fees.
“I think some of it is a morale boost, and some of it is actually appreciated on the financials,” he said.
Flower said he has given the idea to St. Louis County Council Representative Mark Harder in the hopes the county will follow Eureka’s lead. The mayor also said he would like to see other municipalities take similar action.
“You could start to see a pretty significant dollar figure that is going back out to those restaurants,” he said.
The city of Ballwin followed Eureka’s lead Jan. 25, when the Board of Aldermen voted to waive its liquor license fee for restaurants and bars during its 2021-2022 license cycle, City Administrator Eric Sterman said.
Sterman said the board might expand fee abatement to all businesses this year.
He said the city will forego $10,000 to $15,000 in revenue by not charging restaurants and bars the fee.
Flower said he thought it was “cool” for other cities to do the same.
Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin said his city is looking into doing the same. He said the City Council will discuss options at its Feb. 8 meeting.
Eureka licenses
Eureka City Administrator Craig Sabo said the city will lose $40,631 by refunding and not collecting liquor license fees for two years.
He said the city refunded $20,288 to 40 businesses that had liquor licenses for the 2020-2021 license period.
Sabo said the city will not collect $20,343.75 in liquor licensing fees for the 2021-2022 license period, the difference coming from one business that changed classes, slightly raising the fee the city would have collected.
Sabo said no liquor licenses have been issued for the 2021-2022 license cycle.
Eureka has 12 different types of liquor licenses, ranging from a $15 temporary catering license to a full liquor license that costs $450 per year.
Forming the plan
Flower said he came up with the idea after talking with someone at City Hall who was applying for a liquor license.
He said he then talked to city attorney Kathy Butler and found out waivers were possible.
“We decided to put together a proposal and present it to the board,” Flower said.
He said he analyzed the financial effect on the city before presenting his plan to the board.
Flower said the city will be able to offset loss of money through the CARES Act, a federal pandemic stimulus package to be used to offset unbudgeted expenses due to COVID-19.
Eureka received about $700,000, most of which was applied to the Police Department budget.