The Murray City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Thursday to lower the city’s alcohol sales tax as part of a lawsuit settlement with a local alcohol beverage company that alleged the sales tax was excessive.
The ordinance would lower the regulatory license fee for gross alcohol sales from 8% to 5%, effective October 1. Murray Mayor Bob Rogers said he couldn’t talk about the full settlement terms yet because the presiding judge hasn’t given a final order to officially settle the case.
He said the judge now has to hear from attorneys from the beverage company and city on the agreed settlement terms.
“Hopefully the two attorneys will send it to the judge, and the judge will say this case is settled. And that’s what we’re waiting for,” Rogers said.
The Murray Ledger & Times previously reported the city council in August authorized Rogers to enter into a settlement with BFC Enterprises LLC. The local alcohol beverage company sued the city in 2017 claiming the alcohol sales tax was unreasonably high to benefit the city’s budget and unfairly targeted businesses selling alcohol.
Rogers said the 5% tax rate aligns the city with recent state legislation on alcohol sales taxes. A bill signed into state law last year prohibited cities with populations of less than 20,000 that had gone “wet” to levy an alcohol sales tax of more than 5%, but allowed cities that imposed a higher rate before the legislation passage to continue to impose the higher rate.
