Seattle Times Reports Retailers’ Profits Squeezed by I-1183

By Ashley Stewart, Seattle Times Olympia bureau

State lawmakers spent last week looking at ways to address problems left from the voter-approved initiative to privatize liquor sales.

Two years after the state left the liquor business, stores are closing and many customers are crossing borders to buy spirits.

Previously, stores were run by the state or through independent contractors. All liquor retailers, including supermarkets and big-box stores, now have to pay a quarterly license-issuance fee equal to 17 percent of all their liquor sales, a provision in the initiative to bring more money back to state and local governments.

Many say the fee is too high and is driving them out of business.

After the industry was privatized, some contractors purchased their stores; other state-owned stores were sold to private business owners through online auctions.

Of the 167 stores purchased from the state, 116 still have licenses, according to the Washington State Liquor Control Board. The Washington Liquor Store Association estimates 60 percent of the former state liquor stores have closed in the past two years.

Senate Bill 6237 would waive or reduce the license-issuance fee for liquor stores, but lawmakers are arguing about who should qualify.

Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, sponsored the bill, which would have reduced or eliminated the fee for most liquor stores. But he amended the bill to exclusively benefit stores purchased by contractors, excluding stores purchased through auctions.

He said that was necessary for approval in the Senate, where some lawmakers told him that private business owners should have known what they were getting into.

Now, there’s legislative maneuvering from House Democrats to have provisions for former non-contract stores restored.

Members of the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee passed the bill with an amendment that would return it to the Senate, hoping senators will reconsider the exclusion of former non-contract stores.

Owner Meru Belbayeva and her family purchased Downtown Spirits, a non-contract Seattle store, two years ago through an online auction. It was the largest liquor store in the state by square footage and sales volume, she said.

“Liquor is a recession-proof item,” she said. “We thought it would be a viable business.”

Today, they aren’t breaking even. Belbayeva said the largest burden is the license-issuance fee that eats up 53 percent of her overall revenue. That’s before rent, employment, taxes and other expenses.

Right now, the bill would lessen or eliminate this fee only for stores purchased by contractors. Retailers bringing in less than $200,000 in liquor sales each month would be altogether exempt from license-issuance fees.

Stores making less than $350,000 each month would pay a fee equal to 7 percent of liquor sales, and stores making more than $350,000 each month would pay 17 percent of liquor sales — the same as now.