More Alcohol Taxes: Bend Over Before Ordering a Drink

How and where will we be able to drown our sorrows away when we can't even buy a drink?--if (and when) the State Liquor Control Board jacks up the price of alcohol by nearly $1.05 per liter. That equals a 5.6 percent increase, taxing your wallet an additional $2 per 1.75-liter bottle. Jerks. Lawmakers needed to balance the state's budget, and so they took a good chunk of change from the liquor board's piggy bank. Now the board is pressured to tax the hell out of alcohol and re-fill the gaping $79-million hole. If the board approves the increase today, it will take effect August 1, and is expected to raise $77 million over two years. Meanwhile, industry experts shake their finger and caution that if the taxes keep piling on, the hospitality sector could be in for a whirl of economic double-trouble, potentially costing 1,100 jobs and decreased tax revenue.