Its time to allow micro-breweries in SD to distribute their own beer, and, time to raise the alcohol tax

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7v0V58V3Uw

I know what you are thinking, a few contradictions there, but not really. I have often believed a tax hike in alcohol would actually help the bar business and give property tax payers a little relief from paying for criminals.

First the distribution issue. Distributors are clearly fighting this because of greed. But they have their excuses;

Distributors, meanwhile, said allowing craft breweries to work as producer, distributor and retailer in some capacity could create problems for the state in collecting tax revenue and for consumers in ensuring their beer meets quality standards.

Breweries would still be paying taxes and as for the quality issue, that is silly. Distributors ARE NOT testing the quality of the product, if they were Coors Light would no longer be available 🙂 This is clearly a way for distributors to reap a commission for basically doing nothing but acting like a keg taxi. Distributors would still be in the picture anyway for mass distribution. All brewers are asking is to brew more beer and sell it from their locations.

As for increasing the alcohol tax, I agree 100% with Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth that it is silly that property tax payers are footing the bill for crimes related to alcohol. I think if alcohol taxes increase, liquor stores and bars will charge more, which in turn could mean bigger profits and less consumption, which means less crime. MPR has a great story about this.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the cost of excessive alcohol use is $2.05 per drink — costs that create financial burdens for federal, state and local governments.

“Currently, federal and state taxes do not even come close to covering those costs,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, author of a recent article study on state alcohol excise taxes. “Public health is a strong rationale for alcohol taxation. … If we don’t recover the costs related to alcohol sales, then it amounts to a subsidy for people who drink, and who drink excessively.”

I don’t think the habits of casual drinkers would change with a tax increase, but I do think it would help to curb reckless drinking.

UPDATE: Minnehaha County Commission continues to deny Barth a chairmanship

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Not sure if Jeff has fought to be chair or not, but it seems a bit odd that as long as he has been there they won’t give him a chair position. They had their chair election yesterday and re-appointed Heiberger as Chair (she was chair before Beninga) and Bender as Vice-Chair.

Unlike the city council, the commission is a partisan position, and since Jeff isn’t a part of the majority party on the commission, I believe they continue to deny him a chair position. Sad really, since he has the most experience.

Barth also voted against using the Argus Leader as the official designated paper for the county in Sioux Falls. State law really doesn’t give them much of a choice on the matter, but it was a good protest vote. Barth has been critical of the paper for not covering county business very well. While I will agree to some extent, I will say it again, the meetings are at a very bad time, they need to be moved to after 5 PM.

UPDATE: I’m awaiting to see the actual meeting (apparently it takes two days, again, to see the video) but I guess Barth also chastised the city for not telling the county about the asbestos dumping since the county gives permission to the city to use the landfill.

Minnehaha County has better credit rating than the City of Sioux Falls

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So I get a call from a county official yesterday, and they say something like,

“Did you hear? The county has a better credit rating than the city. But you might not have heard because we didn’t hold a press conference.”

Bob Litz actually made the brief announcement at the county commission meeting on Tuesday. I even said to the official that I didn’t even get a press release from the county on it. The good rating will SAVE taxpayers money on interest with the bond sale for the new jail.

Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, Sep 26, 2017

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This week is a little less enduring than last week’s meeting.

During the INFORMATIONAL besides staff reports and open discussion, they go into executive session over an employee. Not sure what this is about, but I think it relates to a NEW audit department employee.

The city council than has their joint meeting with Lincoln County at 5 PM to discuss zoning changes and regulations.

At 6 PM, they go at it again with the Minnehaha County Commission to discuss a joint conditional use permit.