Marshall County could see fewer alcohol dollars, after new state legislation has decreased the licensing fees retailers are required to pay.
Marshall County ABC Administrator Scott Brown gave a quarterly update to the fiscal court Wednesday during a special-called meeting at the fiscal courtroom in Benton, and told commissioners to expect about $33,000 less by the end of the 2017-18 fiscal year than what it had previously collected.
“Starting June 29 (2017), we have to give back a portion of their license fees on a quarterly credit,” Brown said. “That will be somewhere between $33,000 to $35,000 difference that we won’t have (in) revenue next year. We have to give them a quarterly credit on what they pay for a yearly license. In essence, they’re getting a license for free, we just keep it for a little while. So, that will make a big difference to our revenue coming in.”
According to ABC reports, revenues collected from the county’s 43 licensed establishments for the quarter beginning April 1 and concluding at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, totaled $88,014.10; the previous quarter yielded about $59,555.
According to the county’s ABC ordinance, retailers in Marshall County are required to pay regulatory license fees of 6 percent on gross sales on packaged malt beverages, distilled wines and spirits and by-the-drink revenues.
It isn’t the only change to have taken place at the state level that will affect the local community. Kentucky Revised Statute 244.350 – which disallowed package liquor stores from offering delivery services or advertising delivery services – was repealed in the General Assembly, and took effect June 29. KRS 244.360, which required alcoholic beverage retailers to display name and license numbers visibly on the window, was also eliminated at the state level.
The General Assembly also revised laws that would have previously disallowed smaller communities – those with population centers of fewer than 8,000 residents – to have stand-alone liquor bars. However, state legislators gave local governments the ability to opt out of those changes; Benton, Calvert City and Marshall County all three chose to do so. Marshall County was the only wet county of the 81 total in the state to amend its alcohol ordinances to prohibit “wide open bars.”
“I think that’s staying with what the constituents of the county want,” said Judge-Executive Kevin Neal.
County law enforcement may also be on the receiving end of new body armor, thanks to a grant allocated through the Office of Homeland Security. Neal said his office had received a letter from Gov. Matt Bevin notifying the county that it had been selected as a grant recipient for about $17,290 award; monies would be used to purchase 26 new body armor vests for the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department. Funds will awarded pending completion of state requirements and a signed agreement.
In other business, the court:
- Set speed limits on Marco Street, Post Oak Lane and Tillett Hill Lane at 25 mph;
- adopted a new FOG ordinance, which outlines prohibitions of particular discharge into sanitary sewer lines in the county;
- purchased property on Ridge Road for a total purchase cost of $28,140;
- approved a contract with Glen Harris Construction to build a new 60-by-60 foot metal building at the Marshall County Road Department at a cost of $167,020;
- approved wage changes for two Road Department employees incurring additional duties;
- entered into a one-year lease agreement with the City of Hardin to allow the city use of the Hardin Community Center;
- approved a memorandum of agreement to repair drainage issues causing damage to a property on Treasure Island Road;
- hired Mike Bonnell as a part-time laborer at the Road Department; and
- approved a proposal from Rivercrest Engineering to initiate engineering work for infrastructure expansion in sanitation district 2.