By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Town of Delavan board approved dropping liquor license fees in response to a request by Chris Marsicano, owner of the Village Supper Club.
Marsicano wrote a letter to the board asking for the reductions and spoke during public comments at the May 19 meeting. He said all the businesses that serve food and beverages have suffered in the 58 days they were shut down under the Safer-at-Home order and some had not yet re-opened and were continuing to suffer. Even when they re-open, bars and restaurants are supposed to operate at 25 percent capacity to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“This will not be the summer we are used to,” Marsicano said.
Marsicano said the reduction in fees might not seem like a lot of help to the businesses, but it was, in his opinion. He said reducing the fees would be a nice gesture by the town and the business owners have contributed a lot to the community over the years. He also said many other municipalities have made similar reductions.
Supervisor Katherine Gaulke said she was concerned about setting a precedent by helping only one kind of business – those that serve alcohol – and asked if the board would consider reducing fees for other businesses in the future, such as for owners of short-term rental property.
She also asked if money the Town received from the CARES Act federal COVID-19 relief to local governments could help cover the loss of revenue if the board chose to drop the fees. She said the $5,462 the Town received could help offset the loss.
Administrator John Olson said after the meeting the reduction of the fees is anticipated to cause a decrease in revenue of about $10,000. He said he thought the use of the CARES funds to offset that loss in revenue could be justified by the rules for how the funds can be used.
Supervisor Lynnette Phillips pointed out that small businesses had the opportunity to apply for small business loans. She also reminded the board that the money the board was about to give up was taxpayer money and a lot of people in the community have suffered because of COVID-19. She said the reduction seemed like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
On a 4-1 vote with Phillips opposed, the fee for Class B liquor license renewals was dropped from $600 to $50, the lowest allowed by state statute, and the Class B beer renewals were dropped from $100 to no fee at all.
See more coverage from the meeting including several other topics discussed, in the May 28 Delavan Enterprise.
