SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Savannah City Council voted to slash the proposed increase for alcohol license fees at a Thursday meeting, meaning, while there is still an increase coming down the pike, it will only be half of what was originally put forth.
"It just came on very quickly," Owner of Pinkie Master's Matt Garappolo said. "They didn't give us a heads up. I think a lot of people were shocked, and they felt like it wasn't very fair"
The owner of Lone Wolf Lounge, Tom Worley said, "We had a meeting like two weeks ago. The revenue department they called all the alcohol license holders into the meeting and gave everyone their renewal packets and then started explaining here's what the new fees are going to look like and everyone's jaw dropped."
The original proposed increase was about 40% more than restaurant and bar owners pay now for alcohol permits. For several people that News 3 spoke to, that would have been a significant increase.
"The alcohol fees are about $5000," Worley said. "So, a beer license is $1500 for instance. They were taking it to $2500."
The time crunch was also an issue for many of those affected.
"It has a lot to do with the timing of it and how drastic it was because we have to renew our license in a week," Garappolo said.
At a Thursday meeting, Savannah's aldermen voted to lower the fee increase to about 20%.
Still, some are wary of a notice of any fee increase this late in the year.
"This actually comes from the city needing to balance their budget every year in December," Worley said, "and to make up for shortfalls, I think they've got to find money in other places. So, I think this year, they just looked under a rock, and that rock happened to be alcohol licensing."
City Manager Jay Melder said at Thursday's meeting that the funds from the licensing fees go toward enforcement of alcohol licenses, not revenue.
The last time the city did a price increase for the licensing fees was 2018.
