State Capitol – Citing statistics that the Illinois beer brewers are already paying a higher price per gallon than neighboring states, craft brewers told Capitol reporters that the Governor’s proposed tax increase on beer will add another major cost to their operations. By one estimate, a beer maker said it will add another $12,000 in costs to their overhead — money that would otherwise go to expansion, marketing, or salary increases. The current tax on Illinois beer makers is 23.1 cents a gallon — and is proposed to go to 27.7 cents/gallon. This compares to some neighboring states charging 6 cents to 12 cents a gallon.
Mike Potts a brewer from Central Illinois, noted that when the Federal government recently CUT the Federal Excise Tax, the savings on his operations allowed him to put those savings into increase production and expansion to such an extent that they now pay the same amount to the Federal government as they did previously, due to increased sales. Cutting taxes, Potts said, is how Illinois can help brewers and other small businesses grow and increase their taxable sales to the state.
Danielle D’Alessandro, the Executive Director of the Illinois Craft Beer Guild said there are now over 200 craft brewers in Illinois, which add not only to a community’s job base, but increasingly are outlets for a community to gather and socialize. Such spots are increasingly important in smaller communities, with fewer places to join with others in the community.
But as one of the brewers told reporters, the increases being passed in Springfield are damaging the entire industry, with a $15/hour minimum wage on the horizon, a potential increase in a progressive tax, and now a proposed increase on beer sales. “There’s only so much a small business can absorb” he said Politics, Personalities, Policies and business developments!
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