OCR Text |
Show c'.iquor bill encourages 'bootlegging' pay all the taxes,' said a K earns man questioned about the proposed tax increase. "Why don't they hit Coca-cola, Sprite or put a tax on diapers?" House Bill 64 would add an additional addi-tional tax to liquor sold at state stores to pay for a state health insurance in-surance program. The bill would cause the price of alcohol to jump dramatically, according to officials with the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Critics contend the tax hike would cause a rapid increase in the number of Utahns "bootlegging" alcohol from neighboring states. With local prices on wine and spirits well above that charged elsewhere, many local drinkers say they already have enough incentive to bootleg alcohol and a price hike would only give them more reason to take their business elsewhere. Local retail prices are about double the actual wholesale costs of the product. Much of the markup on alcohol goes to enrich state coffers and is used to pay for school lunches lun-ches and other programs. Any further fur-ther hike in liquor prices doesn't sit well with local alcohol consumers who say they feel like elected officials offi-cials are picking on them. "Why are cigarettes and alcohol always taxed?" one local drinker lamented. "It's because 98 percent of the Legislature are Mormon By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL A proposed bill before the Utah Legislature that would hike retail prices at state liquor li-quor stores by 10 percent has drawn fire from local drinkers who feel they are already paying more than their fair share of tax. "I don't know how much longer you can have a small percentage n " Why don 't they hit Coca-Cola, . Sprite, or put a tax on diapers. " Local tavern patron i. bishops and stake presidents. It's fair in that they're voted in, but it's unfair because they were elected to represent everyone." Some critics have suggested that any additional revenues brought in by passage of House Bill 64 will not offset the amount lost by the number of drinkers buying their liquor elsewhere. else-where. In Nevada, for example, one Bountiful man said he can buy a fifth fif-th of Seagrams V.O. for $12.95. Since it costs him $27.95 to buy the same amount locally, he travels to SEE BOOZE ON A-2 . ing at Wyoming Downs and other tracks. Bootlegging isn't just confined to smuggling in wines and spirits. Many Utahns regularly journey to Evanston, Wyo. to purchase beer with a 6 percent alcohol content Local beer sold in grocery stores and convenience stores is only 3.2 percent alcohol One Evanston tavern owner estimates between 60 to 70 percent of his customers are Utahns. "I hope they keep their ridiculous liquor laws and prices there," he said. "If that ever changes, then I could well be put out of business. ' ' Booze CONTINUED FROM A-l Nevada twice each year and buys alcohol in bulk. "I haven't bought a bottle of whiskey here for the last two years," he said. I went to Vegas recently re-cently and spent $1,300 on alcohol and saved about $800. If they jack up the price any more, I'll probably go three times a year." Since prices on local wine and spirits average anywhere from 15 to 25 percent higher than that charged in Nevada and Wyoming, patrons at a private club say it shouldn't surprise sur-prise state officials that they choose to buy most of their alcohol elsewhere. else-where. "Most of the people I know bootleg alcohol for home use. It's gotten to the point where drinkers feel something everyone uses should be taxed and not just them. They don't feel the tax on alcohol is fair and, of course, they can buy it much cheaper elsewhere," said Jex Hep worth, owner of The Fifth, a private club in Bountiful. Hepworth, who has been in busi ness for 30 years, added most of his patrons stop in for a couple of social drinks and do most of their serious drinking at home. He worries that a further increase will make more potential paying customers choose to bootleg and do their drinking at home. Bootlegging alcohol is a class B misdemeanor. Utahns caught bringing bring-ing wine and spirits into the state by police have their contraband confiscated. con-fiscated. Nevertheless, the savings to be made on bootleg alcohol are great and the risk of being caught is small. Most Utah police officers consider con-sider bootlegging a low grade offense and do not assign enforcement enforce-ment a very high priority. The amount of illegal out-of-state liquor being brought into Utah is exacerbated exacer-bated further by the number of shops just across the border who tailor their business and advertising to take advantage of Utah liquor laws. Many of these shops sell liquor in bulk, thereby giving Utahns an even greater cost savings than if they had purchased their alcohol locally. Shops in Wyoming also cater to Utah pari-mutuel betters who travel there to watch and bet on horse rac- |