Privatizing liquor sales vote makes ballot
Jennifer Norlund, of Soap Lake Liquor, pulls bottles forward. Owner Gary Gregg is worried CostcoÕs effort to privatize liquor sales will put him out of business. Initiative 1100 will be placed on November's ballot.
SOAP LAKE — Large retailers Costco and Safeway could be allowed to sell hard liquor if voters approve Initiative 1100 in November.
Currently, hard alcohol is sold in stores licensed by the state. The state provides the inventory, while those with state contracts receive base pay and a sales commission.
But critics of the state’s role call it a “Prohibition-style monopoly” on liquor sales.
They want stores licensed to sell beer and wine, to also be able to retail hard liquor.
They claim private retailers could pass on lower prices to customers if the state would step aside.
Gary Gregg, owner of Soap Lake Liquor, is worried that I-1100’s passage would put him out of business.
He couldn’t afford to buy the $100,000 worth of inventory now in his store.
Costco and Safeway have store brands of liquor, making it “impossible” for Gregg to buy the product at such a low price.
“There’s no way I can purchase liquor at the same cost they will be paying for it,” Gregg commented.
He wants people to vote no on the initiative.
His customers have said they signed the petition to place I-1100 on the ballot, but want their names removed because they weren’t told both sides of the issue.
He was only able to tell those customers to vote no on the initiative.
There was a previous effort to place a similar initiative on the ballot, but Gregg fears the anti-government atmosphere makes its success more likely this fall.
He claims Costco benefits instead of Washington’s cities.
The City of Soap Lake received $20,462 in taxes that will disappear with the I-100’s passage, Gregg says.
“People say it’s (alcohol) taxed too high, but the money is returned to the state, in terms of roads and schools,” he commented.
Proponents say the communities could recoup the money in higher sales tax revenues.
But Gregg believes the state will find another way to tax people to recover lost tax funds.
Another problem is that liquor could more easily be obtained by minors with more outlets available, he said.
Washington state’s no-sales-to-minors compliance rate is 94 percent, while the private sector’s rate is between 76 and 94 percent, according to the state Liquor Control Board.
Ephrata City Administrator Wes Crago said it’s difficult for city officials to gauge the impact of the initiative.
“No one has a hard sense of how it’s going to affect the local communities positively or negatively,” he said.
Staff is gathering information about the initiative and disseminating it to the Ephrata City Council.
He read there is a link between crime and hard alcohol sales in states with no control or regulation.
The city’s records show Ephrata received $35,000 from state liquor sales, which is the budgeted amount for 2010.
Records also show a separate line item of a liquor profit of $38,000. It’s not clear which amount would be directly affected.
But one of their difficulties is the conflicting information coming from both sides, Crago said.
“It’s difficult, I think the citizens need to be aware how it might affect our local community,” he commented.
“At the same time, if we don’t know, it’s difficult for elected officials to make a broad statement of policy, or agreement or disagreement,” Crago said.
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