Starting Dec. 8, prices at stores in the state-owned liquor monopoly will climb.
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Board decided Monday to make a trio of changes to generate more revenue in the wake of a shortfall in the state budget.
The changes will raise the price of an average $15 bottle of liquor by about 24 to 29 cents, according to an ABC news release. The price will climb by 15 cents on the top-selling miniature bottle, which currently costs $1.30.
The changes are as follows: A fee imposed on each case of liquor will climb from $1 to $2, the markup on miniature bottles will jump from 49 to 69 percent and a new program called “rounding to the nines” will be implemented, which will roundup costs to the nearest “9.” For example, a bottle priced at $19.90 or $19.95 will climb to $19.99, according to the release.
“The revenue generated from these initiatives will do ABC’s part to help close the state’s budget deficit, but just as importantly, these funds will be used to modernize ABC’s aging infrastructure,” ABC Chairman Jeffrey Painter said in the news release.
The changes are projected to raise about $5.4 million for the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2015. During the following fiscal year, which runs from July 2015 through June 2016, they will raise an additional $9.5 million.
“We’ve made some tough decisions today, but they are sound business decisions,” Painter said in the release. “We are running a business and have obligations to the citizens of Virginia as well as our vendors and consumers to properly manage ABC and keep our business infrastructure and 350 statewide stores on firm operational and financial ground.”
Other actions considered by the board to raise revenue included an across-the-board markup of 1 to 4 percent, increasing licensing fees, raising the markup on special orders, opening new stores and expanding hours of operation.
In October, Gov. Terry McAuliffe ordered state agencies to slash spending and raise revenue to help close a nearly $2.4 billion budget shortfall. ABC’s last markup in prices was in 2008.
The state-run liquor monopoly handles more than $1.8 billion across more than 28 million transactions each year. Along with helping with the shortfall, the funding will help fund the $30 million replacement cost of the point-of-sale system used across the state, according to the release.
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