To the Editor:
Taxation with bad representation
Currently in the House of Representatives for the Commonwealth of Kentucky there is a bill being offered that not only harms the City of Bellevue, but also all of the cities that border adjoining states. House Bill 612 proposes placing a 4 percent tax on all liquor sales from restaurants, bars and liquor stores and will cause many customers to shop, dine and drink in the adjoining state.
Bellevue, Covington, Newport and the surrounding cities took a big hit when the I-471 bridge was closed for 100 days due to the fire under a Cincinnati bridge. It was millions of dollars in losses to Northern Kentucky businesses. That was unavoidable whereas this bill will be self-inflicted damage if we allow this bill to pass.
The distilleries in Kentucky are already seeing red due to the boycotting of our liquor due to the tariffs and foreign policy.
Recently I have seen friends of mine going on one-week or one-month pauses in drinking alcohol. Mocktails and infused drinks are also taking a bite out of the apple.
Bourbon is one of the top industries in our state. This is not the time to give customers yet another reason to cut back or shop in Ohio.
Additionally this bill limits the cities with alcohol regulatory fees to only 3 percent and any new applicants to 1 percent.
Cities like Elizabethtown have already imposed a higher alcohol tax and have a lot of entertainment areas and night life which requires more police officers and more overtime. They use this money they collect to fund all of these extra police activities and keeping everyone safe while enjoying their lively clubs and bars. Cutting them back to 3 percent would be devastating to their city.
In their city, the tax they impose brings in so much more business that it works great for them.
Let all of us run our cities the way we know that works and stop trying to pass legislation that harms more people than it helps.
If you agree, please contact your legislators now to oppose this proposed alcohol tax bill.
Mayor Charlie Cleves
Dayton