AggieDave 6 #1 May 24, 2005 Yup, its true, prices are going up! http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/news/ap/4/beer_tax QuoteBar Tabs Going Up As States Tax Alcohol By M.r. Kropko Associated Press Writer Published: May 24, 2005 8:29 AM EST CLEVELAND (AP) - If Doug Petkovic has to charge more for a cold one, running his upscale restaurant in this blue-collar city is going to get even tougher. But that's what Petkovic will have to do if the Legislature decides to double the beer tax to help ease the state's money crunch. "Any type of price increase makes it more difficult for people to come here and dine," said Petkovic, who owns Theory in the up-and-coming Tremont neighborhood. "In my eyes, that sort of taxation amounts to almost persecution." Not surprisingly, drinkers, brewers and distributors feel like Petkovic does. The plan, however, does have supporters: Gov. Bob Taft, who proposed it to help balance the $51 billion two-year budget, and those who point to the social and economic costs of alcohol abuse. More and more states are considering higher alcohol taxes after years of raising cigarette rates. This year, Kentucky and Washington state hiked their liquor tariffs. Montana, Indiana and North Dakota rejected higher beer taxes. Texas is still considering an increase, which would go to help pay for public schools. And Ohio lawmakers must decide what they're going to do before the new fiscal year starts July 1. Taft is calling for the excise tax to go from 18 cents to 36 cents a gallon on alcoholic beverages other than liquor, notably beer and wine. The cost of a beer would go up depending on how each manufacturer and retailer passes along the tax. It most cases it would be pennies. Overall, the increase would add an additional $50 million for the state's general fund. Ohio received $58.8 million in tax revenue from alcoholic beverages in the 2004 fiscal year. Kentucky's General Assembly in March OK'd increasing the wholesale liquor tax from 9 percent to 11 percent, which is expected to raise $8.8 million this fiscal year. Washington state's budget is expected to get $50 million from its $1.33-per-liter tax on hard liquor. Kentucky's increase — the first in 50 years — allowed lawmakers to lower income taxes for the state's poorest families, said Sen. Charlie Borders, the Republican chairman of the budget-writing committee. "Our tax increase on liquor was minuscule compared to what some people thought it should be," Borders said. "Believe you me, we've had no grief from the liquor industry because they've been treated very well in my opinion." Ohio's proposed beer tax increase is part of a broader plan that would eliminate taxes on business equipment and inventory and lower business income taxes, among other things. Excise taxes, sometimes called sin taxes, are a more palatable way to raise revenue for states than a broader tax, said Bert Waisanen, fiscal analyst for the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures. Part of the reason is the moral message. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based nonprofit, contends that hiking alcohol taxes is a good way to fight alcohol abuse. "Tens of millions of dollars a year already are spent marketing alcoholic beverages to underage consumers," George Hacker, director of the center's Alcohol Policies Project, said in a statement posted on the center's Web site. "Lower taxes and lower prices will only further entice young people to drink." Businesses, however, are warning about the consequences. Columbus Distributing Co., which handles Anheuser-Busch, may have to cut its work force if a tax increase translated into a drop in demand, said Paul Jenkins, the company's president. "It is paid ultimately by the consumer," Jenkins said of a higher tax. "It's just the way the system works." Sellers are worried, too, especially those near Ohio's borders. With the increase, Ohio's beer tax would be well above that in neighboring states. "It's going to fall hard on the small guys," said George Thompson, owner of D&J Carryout, an independent seller of beer and wine in Toledo. He estimated 80 percent of his sales comes from beer. Fred Lisy, downing a draft with lunch at Becky's, a popular tavern near Cleveland State University, said a few more cents probably won't deter him from buying brew — but that doesn't mean he likes the idea. "It's just the whole principle of being taxed like that," he said. "It's distasteful."--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #2 May 24, 2005 not sure how this article pertains to jump prices but it costs $21 to jump at both my dz's Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #3 May 24, 2005 Quotenot sure how this article pertains to jump prices but it costs $21 to jump at both my dz's Mabe he was referring to when you have to buy beer for something What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #4 May 24, 2005 Please.. she drinks the cheapest beer around. Bud Light A few pennys added onto piss still turns it into piss Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #5 May 24, 2005 Alana Alana Alana... come on you are a college grad u ate... Think cost of beer dues... EEESSSHHHH Edited to add to Phree's comments... LIGHT BEER.. YUCKA PUCKA.. that shit is nasty... There are a bunch of people at Kapow who go for Bucsh Lite... I mean if you are going to drink... get the good stuff at least...treat your body well. It has to last a long time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #6 May 24, 2005 do i? no... not usually! but for that comment, im bringing a keg of it for saturday night at the boogie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #7 May 24, 2005 yeah, i understood the obcious... just not that the article has anything to do with the cost of actual skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tcnelson 1 #8 May 24, 2005 i'm not picky alana so, i'll help ya lighten the keg! "Don't talk to me like that assface...I don't work for you yet." - Fletch NBFT, Deseoso Rodriguez RB#1329 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #9 May 24, 2005 good! maybe you can help get it out of my car when i get there too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #10 May 24, 2005 Quotejust not that the article has anything to do with the cost of actual skydiving Then maybe you should read the beer rules. Its important. I know I pay my beer dues, its important, I don't even try to pull Gold Wings excemption.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #11 May 24, 2005 QuoteBut that's what Petkovic will have to do if the Legislature decides to double the beer tax to help ease the state's money crunch. The sad part.......they have the MOST FUCKED UP taxes there already and I have NO idea where the money goes since the schools, roads, and everything else public SUCKS. Good God I hate that state. I'll never live there again! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #12 May 24, 2005 Starting the sport in 1975 I missed the era when most DZs are clubs and everyone just paid monthly dues. Parachutes Incorporated (PI) are the first of the commercial centers and having nice facilities and bigger aircraft wasn't something the clubs could compete against. I was fortunate to spend my early days jumping with a military sport club. We paid ten dollars a month in club dues (and that went directly into the club's beer kitty) and gear, instruction, and aircraft support is free. We got a lift everyday after work and lifts all weekend long. It was a symbiotic relationship between jumpers and pilots. We wanted to jump and the pilots, to keep current, had to fly. And they found it more interesting, and fun, to fly us rather than only bore holes in the skies. It also made these pilots familiar with jump operations. We always sent these pilots away with a couple bottles of Scotch at the end of the day. When I left the service I started jumping at Lake Elsinore. I was kind of shocked to find a lift to twelve-five was seven dollars and a hop & pop is three or four. To me that meant a full weekend of jumping costs a small fortune. Soon after the cost went up again and the standard became a buck per thousand feet plus a buck and a lift to altitude stayed between thirteen and fourteen dollars through most of the 1980s. By the early 1990s most large DZs like Perris are charging seventeen to eighteen dollars and old hands began to complain about the "yuppification" of skydiving. I was already an Instructor by then and I started to notice a disconnect. My students are driving Porsches while I had the same old bomb I'd been driving for ten years . . . The club idea had sort of a dying gasp when a partner in the Lake Elsinore DZ offered a package deal to jumpers. You paid a fairly large lump sum up front and received a year's worth of jumps at a much reduced rate. Many took advantage of this and are happy about it until the partner disappeared to Alaska with all the money . . . Lot's of jumpers complain DZOs are getting rich and certainly some of them are. But they made it over the long haul. I've been there when UPS delivers a small part for a turbine aircraft and the DZO's hand trembles as he signs over a check for ten grand. The DZOs I have heartburn with nowadays are the ones that charges the high prices and still run shoestring operations. Not so many years ago I visited one DZ that is using really burned out student Javelins equipped with Sentinals . . . Jumps are now twenty one dollars at most DZs and that's less about greedy DZ owners and more about what jumpers are demanding and what DZOs must provide to compete. My generation felt you only needed the following to be happy; a C-182 for students, a Beech or a DC-3 for the up jumpers, a liquor store within walking distance, and a parking lot to party in. Those days are gone . . . NickD BASE 194 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SKYWHUFFO 1 #13 May 24, 2005 A wise old man once told me"THERE ARE ONLY 3 TYPES OF BEER IN THIS WORLD"! WARM, COLD, and FREE! The last two taste the best! Blue skies! D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #14 May 24, 2005 ok, this is only the case if I drink beer... which I don't... I know, I know... what selfrespecting skydiver doesn't drink beer... of course this is good information... because I'm moving to Ohio this summer...Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #15 May 24, 2005 Where at in Ohio are you moving?Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
divnswoop 0 #16 May 24, 2005 QuoteThen maybe you should read the beer rules. Its important. You must not know ALANA'S drinking rules.... My favorite was her just spouting off, "...buy me a shot............buy me a shot," as she causally walked by a bar full of men. I think all the middle aged men saw through the act that night though!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #17 May 24, 2005 thanks swoop!! yeah, i do what i want! right, schwoop? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #18 May 24, 2005 Near Dayton... which means I'll be closest to Skydive Greene County... I'll be up in early august on vacation prior to moving into town the latter part of the year... ScottLivin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alanab 0 #19 May 24, 2005 sweet!!!! we get another! so why are you moving here? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #20 May 24, 2005 Wright Patt boy huh? Yeah, you'll fit into the DZ then I think about 1/3 of the DZ is from there. Look a few of us up when you come and we'll make sure you fit in good with the DZ Alana's beer rule is to snag the freebies first and then go for the cheap beer... just like every good college girl Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #22 May 24, 2005 Air Force... going to School at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson, AFB... Get my masters... It happens to be my hometown (well technically I'm from the Waynesville/Springboro area) and one has to wonder why I haven't been to dayton since I started jumping a bit over a year ago... too busy with work I guess...Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #23 May 24, 2005 I'll do that... thanks PZ...Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
