Fees for alcohol permits or taxes could be increased to cover extra costs for excise police if Indiana eases limits on sales of alcohol, a state analyst said Tuesday. Increasing taxes, though, would likely increase costs to alcohol consumers. “I’m assuming the increase in price would cause consumers to react by decreasing their consumption by a small amount,” said Lauren Tanselle, fiscal analyst for the Indiana Legislative Services Agency.
Tanselle addressed questions by members of the Indiana General Assembly w are looking into the possible expansion of Sunday sales or sale of cold beer. Her report to the Indiana General Assembly’s interim commission studying alcohol law was among the first to discuss the costs to the state of reforming the laws.
The report cited the hiring of 10 additional excise officers for the next three years.
Hiring costs would amount to between $693,000 to $984,000 for fiscal year 2019, she said. The annual salary for excise officers ranges from $45,000 to $66,725.
By increasing alcoholic beverage permits paid to the state by 7 percent, revenue could bring in an additional $803,000 a year to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. A 9 percent increase could yield $1.032 million, she said.
Currently the annual fee for most retailer and dealer permits is $500 if the permittee sells only beer, $750 is the permit-holder sells beer and wine, and $1,000 if beer, wine and liquor are sold.
In another scenario, alcoholic beverage taxes could be increased, Tanselle said. Currently, the per-gallon tax is 11.5 cents for beer, $2.68 for liquor and 47 cents for wine. A 2 percent increase, for example, would being in $1.091 million in 2019 to the state. She also said there could be a combination of the two suggestions. One member of the interim panel, Terry Bauer, a former excise officer, suggested that wine and warm beer be sold on Sundays from noon to 7 p.m. at groceries and convenience stores. He also recommended that liquor stores, which can sell cold beer as well as wine and liquor, be allowed to open from noon to 7 p.m. on Sundays and that pharmacies sell wine, liquor and warm beer on Sundays, also from noon to 7 p.m. Bauer said he reasoned that pharmacy permits have “morphed” into liquor stores, excluding the sale of cold beer.