Published December 3, 2020

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — When local restauranteurs and other holders of alcohol pouring licenses cut their checks to renew those license fees before year’s end, they are going to be given a pleasant surprise from the town.

That’s because given the financial troubles caused by COVID-19-related shutdowns such as the reduced hours of operation, the loss of seating capacity, and the elimination of access to their bars by any patrons for the past nine months, the Select Board recently voted to cut alcohol license fees in half for calendar year 2021.

There are currently five all-alcohol license holders in town who are charged $4,600 annually to administer this license. One restaurant holds a Wines and Malt Beverages license with a fee of $2,800 and the management firm for the Hillview golf course holds a seasonal Wine and Malt Beverages license that costs $500.

The vote was 4-0 with one abstention as Select Board Chairwoman Kate Manupelli recused herself because a family member works for one of the restaurants in town.

Prior to voting on the matter, the board members requested additional information from Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto and Finance Director Liz Rourke to assess whether the town could afford to lose the revenue during what is anticipated to be a few lean revenue years going forward due to COVID-19 losses and expenses.

Both determined that the town could sustain a fee reduction of 50% but cautioned it should not be counted upon in subsequent years.

“We reviewed the receipts to date from Nov. 12, 2020 and Nov. 12, 2019. The most important thing to answer the board’s question is where we stand in our receipts. We are about 48% of receipts to date. When you compare that to where we were at this time last year, we are about two percentage points ahead; we were at 46%,” Gilleberto said.

“Our largest revenue generators are real estate revenues,” Gilleberto said, explaining that to date in the current fiscal year the town has received 49% of revenues due, from July 1 to Nov. 12 “compared to 47% in the previous fiscal year.”

“It is fair to say we are on target,” Gilleberto said, adding, “our assumptions are conservative for this current fiscal year and I am sure we are benefitting from this conservative approach.”

The T.A. said after consulting with Finance Director Liz Rourke they both felt that a one-time reduction of the Section 12 alcoholic beverage licenses fees at 50% for calendar year 2021 renewals could be absorbed. “If the economic uncertainty continues I don’t know if we could make that commitment, but right now it would be for this calendar year,” he said.

Gilleberto added that the total revenue the town received under “license fees two” in the chart provided to the board for calendar year 2020 was $46,775.

“We would effectively be cutting that in half to roughly $23,375 in revenue in that category with the licensees only having to pay half of their license fees to renew,” he said.

Rourke agreed with Gilleberto’s assessment. “We can afford to do this. My only concern is what happens next year. It is minor in the grand scheme of total estimated receipts, but we do not know if there will be another shut down,” she said.

Select Board Vice Chairwoman Liane Gonzalez agreed with Rourke. “None of us are thinking long-term; we are thinking about right now,” she said.

“I see no problem absorbing this. We want them to survive and we asked the finance director and the town administrator to look into it, and it appears we’ll be fine,” commented Select Board member Stephen O’Leary.

Board member Vincenzo Stuto agreed with O’Leary. “It is a show of good faith; if we can do something, we will do something. I am in agreement to do it for this year,” he said.

Board member Rich Wallner acknowledged that he had been “a little more resistant” to the idea the last time they had discussed it. But given the additional financial information provided to the board at this meeting, he agreed that it would be “a nice gesture and a one-time deal.”

The board also did not feel compelled to reduce other license fees charged to run businesses, such as the common victualler, which is a much smaller fee at $100 per year. The conditions for maintaining a viable restaurant under the current state restrictions are much more harsh than those charge for other types of retail establishments.