Liquor tax, from a BB resident

I watched the village Board Meeting tonight on Channel 6 as the motion to reduce the liquor tax intrigued me.

I was hoping that the Mayor would eliminate this draconian tax but I came away disappointed as all they did was reduce it by 3%. During the presentation of this motion by the Mayor he cited that both Binnys and Costco had complained that their regional buyers were not shopping at their outlets in the village due to the gargantuan liquor taxes.

Well as a regional buyer who purchases in bulk I still will not purchase from these outlets in the village. And let me explain why. 

Let’s take a look at two simple bulk purchase calculations;

Francis the Bulk Purchase Wine Connoisseur

Francis our wine connoisseur who lives in Bolingbrook should be purchasing his Wine from Binnys or Costco in Bolingbrook. At this moment he wants to purchase a case of 2007 Duckhorn Cabernet. The purchase price with the discount should be $615.89. Currently in Bolingbrook the total cost with taxes would be $705.19. At Binnys in Plainfield it would total cost would be $665.16 and in both Binnys and Costco in Naperville the cost would be &660.54.  Francis who purchases bulk wine knows about this huge disparity which is why he has not purchased any form of Liquor here since the mayor passed this draconian law. So even though the Village cut the liquor tax in half tonight, the cost of the case would still be $686.72 which is $21 plus more than Plainfield and $26 plus more than Naperville, so Francis still opts to purchase outside the village and wrote to both Binnys and Costco tonight to tell them.

Joe the Plumber

Joe is throwing a super bowl party in February so he needs to purchase some beer, wine and Bourbon. He has a limit of around $200 before taxes.  His cost if he purchased these items today in the Bolingbrook Binnys and Costco would be $229, in Plainfield its $216 and in Naperville $214.50. He thinks it might now be wise to wait until 2011 when the liquor tax is reduced. But upon checking the new reduced tax rate he discovers that he will pay $223 which is still way higher than Plainfield or Naperville, so he plans on driving up to the Costco on 75^th and 59 or the Binnys on 117^th and 59. Even with the additional 4 miles, he is still saving money by shopping outside of the village.

What the administration in Bolingbrook fail to mention is that their liquor tax IS in ADDITION and on top of the extortionate sales tax they charge, 8.5% in Bolingbrook versus Plainfield at 8% and Naperville at 7.25%. What they should do is eliminate the liquor tax completely and then they would get residents purchasing inside the village limits and not outside.  They just do not understand that less taxes means more revenue. This is the problem when you have socialists like the Mayor and the trustees running the village.