Duluth Proposes To Reduce Liquor Licensing Fees For Local Bars And Restaurants

The 20% reduction could mean some financial relief for bars and restaurants trying to recover from the recent economic blow.

DULUTH, Minn. – A lot of bars and restaurants are still dealing with the financial impacts of Covid-19.

But many of them in Duluth could get some relief as city officials are proposing a plan to reduce liquor licensing fees.

The owners of many of those businesses say every little bit of help the city is offering can bring them closer to rebuilding operations.

Duluth city leaders are proposing a new resolution to reduce the cost of maintaining a liquor license at local bars and restaurants.

The 20% reduction could mean some financial relief for bars and restaurants trying to recover from the recent economic blow.

City officials say they recognize the strong need to continue helping local businesses deal with their financial setbacks.

“We just want to help provide relief in as many ways as we can. This is just one small example, but hoping this will help some for those businesses,” said City of Duluth’s Director of Administrative Services Chelsea Helmer

Many of the owners of local bars and restaurants say they are willing to take any help they can get from the city.

“In the under or over of things, I don’t think it will be an end-all, but it helps,” said Crooked Pint General Manager Russ Smith. “You are going to need all of these businesses operating to keep everything going to keep our city government afloat and to keep serving the people of this community.”

This reduction does not apply to all on-site liquor licensing fees.

Some are set by state statutes, which makes the city is unable adjust those specific fees.

The City of Duluth would lose about 90,000 in income by reducing on-sale liquor licensing fees.