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Chicago Tribune: Bar and restaurant owners sound alarm on Mayor Johnson’s 35% alcohol tax increase

“The proposed increase would be the city’s first since 2008, but the industry group convened at a news conference to say City Hall should look elsewhere to balance Johnson’s proposed $17.3 billion budget. In total, the levy hike is expected to net an additional $10.6 million from the city’s so-called sin taxes on beer, wine and liquor sales, bringing it to a total $40.6 million in revenue.

“There is no negotiation on this tax. We will fight it to all levels,” Pat Doerr, director of the Hospitality Business Association of Chicago, told reporters at the Haymarket Brewery in the West Loop. “We have done our part for the city coffers over the last four years, and there was not a point we could agree on in between on this after what we’ve paid in the past. We’re good earners for the city. We’ve earned enough, and we need a break.”

Eater Chicago: Bar Owners and Alders Oppose Chicago’s Alcohol Tax Hike Proposal

On Wednesday, November 14, the City Council unanimously rejected Johnson’s $300 million property tax increase. That means the mayor must find other sources of revenue or enough cuts that would balance the city’s budget. Yet bar and restaurant owners say the city has already balanced its checkbook on the backs of their industry. Johnson’s latest proposal follows his administration’s expansion of paid leave and increases to the tipped minimum wage. Both ordinances notched wins for the progressive caucus and were fiercely opposed by the restaurant lobby.

Doerr pointed to the recent closure of Revolution Brewing’s Logan Square brewpub, as an example of a successful business with multiple locations that still couldn’t cut it under current economic conditions. Mark Robertson, co-owner of 2Bears Tavern Group — which includes Meeting House Tavern and SoFo Tap — tells reporters that if the tax increase forces them to raise their prices, fewer people will walk into their bars.