beer tax :@

[gapertimmy]

Lawmakers consider beer tax

 

Published: June 28, 2003

 

Joel Fischer / The Bulletin

 

 

By Chris Young

 

The Bulletin

 

Beer drinkers may pay as much as $1.50 more in stores for a six-pack from their favorite microbrewery if the state Legislature passes a bill increasing the tax on beer.

 

All the money will go to local public and mental health services, especially alcohol and drug treatment and education, according to House Bill 2804. Both the microbrewing industry and local health officials are at ends in the debate, with the consumer in the middle.

 

"We're trying to backfill some of the $100-plus million in cuts to local service providers," said Rep. Tom Butler, R-Ontario, the bill's sponsor. "This tax would assist in restoring these programs."

 

The tax would bring an estimated $4.3 million per biennium to Deschutes County and its cities, said Gary Smith, director of mental health in the county. "The bill is the only life ring in the ocean," Smith said. "If it doesn't pass, we won't be able to sustain our programs."

 

The county's outpatient program for alcohol, drug and mental health treatment lost 23 positions recently, 15 of which were clinicians, he said. County heath and mental health offices have cut down on service this year, closed on Fridays.

 

The bill is currently in the House Revenue Committee, where it waits for a hearing. The committee may hear the bill along with other revenue bills before the session ends sometime this summer, Butler said.

 

The original bill calls for a tax increase from $2.60 to $35.67 per barrel, or 10 cents per bottle. A barrel equals 2 kegs or 330 12-ounce bottles. If approved, the tax would be paid by the manufacturer, or for beer imported from out-of-state, the distributor. The bill would raise about $115 million per biennium, he said.

 

As it stands in committee, the tax has been negotiated to 7 cents per bottle, but the amount is not finalized yet, said Butler.

 

Microbrewers say the actual amount the consumer will pay will be 16 to 25 cents per bottle, or about $1 to $1.50 a six-pack, due to the mark-up put on beer by wholesalers and retailers.

 

The microbrewing industry in Oregon, with 71 companies, accounts for 10 percent of the state's beer sales, by far the most of any state in the nation, said Jim Parker, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.

 

The next highest state is Colorado with 3 percent of the total, Parker said. The bill will hurt many of the state's microbrewers, they say.

 

Proponents of the bill say that Oregon is due for a beer tax, having the 46th lowest beer tax in the nation, with the last increase 26 years ago.

 

"I think it's time consumers chip in for law enforcement costs related to beer drinking," said Smith, the county mental health director.

 

Microbrewers say the low tax is part of the reason their industry has flourished in Oregon in the first place.

 

Gary Fish, president of Deschutes Brewery in Bend, said the tax would mean his brewery's beer would go up to around $9 per six-pack in stores compared to the current price, about $7.49.

 

Otherwise, the company would have to absorb about $2 million in increased taxes, which isn't possible, Fish said. And with six-packs creeping up on $10, customers will look elsewhere, he said.

 

"Customers are increasingly buying on price," Fish said. "They may say they love our beer, but they can't afford it (at $9 a six-pack).

 

Large domestic beer companies, with more market share and national distribution areas, won't feel the increase as much as microbreweries, Fish said.

 

They can afford to lower their prices to Oregon consumers and give a lower-priced alternative to craft beers long enough to push microbreweries out of business by the decreased sales, he said.

 

Rep. Butler said a tax exemption for small brewers could be added to the bill and be phased out over time.

 

Ron Kutella, partner in Cascade Lakes Brewing Co., said the tax would force the company to increase the keg cost to its distributors by 33 percent.

 

"If there's a statewide budget problem, to pick on a single industry, I don't think it's right," Kutella said.

 

[Szyjakowski]

is this an oregon thing or a nation thing. I don't wanna read all that bullsheit.

thanks.

[gapertimmy]

it is an oregon thing, but considering many of you wanks visit, maybe you could save a buck by buying yer PBR at the border

[ChrisT]

In Oregon they tax everything EXCEPT sales. I think a sales tax would solve the state's $$$ problems...

[Szyjakowski]

i don't got to oregon much anymore...

and yes i usually buy my beer in wa.

fuk i hate lawmakers......