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request to waive or reduce county license fees to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19 restrictions on bars, taverns and casinos here has been rejected by Butte-Silver Bow commissioners in an 8-3 vote Wednesday night.
The Silver Bow Tavern Association had asked for the tax breaks two weeks ago but the council said it wasn’t fair to single out one set of businesses for relief when so many had suffered during the pandemic, the Montana Standard reports.
“I don’t know how to be fair to the whole community — we’d have to waive all business licenses for everyone,” Commissioner Josh O’Neill told Thomas Davis Jr., the association’s president and co-owner of the Drunk’n Miner Saloon in Butte.
“I do understand your struggle, I definitely do,” O’Neill said. “I’ll do my best when this COVID thing lifts to come drink at least 100 beers at your establishment to make up for it, Mr. Davis, but I can’t go along with it (the request) because we’d have to do something for the whole town.”
Commissioners Jim Fisher and Bill Andersen said taverns have faced more onerous restrictions, including reduced hours of operation, than many other businesses and the request deserved a longer, closer look to determine legalities and other factors.
“I think we’re comparing apples to hand grenades,” said Andersen, who joined Fisher and Michele Shea in opposing a motion to kill the proposal. “Some of these other businesses did suffer a little bit but … we never put restrictions on Walmart.”
The association, which represents about 50 bars, taverns and casinos in the county, sent commissioners a letter last month asking that licensed fees be waived or reduced dramatically. It said restrictions had some places on the brink of closing.
County officials say business licenses of all types generated about $150,000 in local revenue in 2020. Liquor licenses accounted for $25,150 of that total, with another $11,400 from beer and wine licenses.
Davis and Deb Dinius, manager of Crazee Carols Casino in Butte, made a personal pitch to commissioners during a virtual meeting two weeks ago and said an order requiring them to close nightly at 10 p.m. was especially harmful.
Their appearance came amid growing calls that bars and casinos at least be allowed to stay open past the 10 p.m. curfew that local health officials imposed in late December during a weeks-long spike in COVID cases and deaths.
The Butte-Silver Bow Board of Health held a special meeting last week and moved the closing times back to 12:30 a.m. while keeping all other restrictions in place, including mask mandates and limiting occupancy in restaurants and bars to 50%.
The rationale behind the 10 p.m. curfew is primarily about the consumption of alcohol. As consumption increases, inhibitions lessen and mask-wearing and social distancing become more challenging, health officials say.
Davis told commissioners Wednesday night that association members had met and still wanted the license fees waived, even though the curfew had been moved back. Having to pay general license fees and then more money to serve alcohol meant they were double-taxed, he said.
Cindi Shaw, chairwoman of the council and a member of the county health board, said Davis and Dinius had pleaded for extended hours and got them.
“I think we have put out an olive branch that other people haven’t had a chance to get …” Shaw said. “So I just wanted to remind everybody that that was what the request was and I’m a little bit surprised — I’ll be honest — that it was not adequate.”
Commissioner John Sorich said he knew a lot of bar owners and felt bad for them but noted restrictions of some sort had affected retail businesses, airlines and everyone else “in one way or another.”
“So where do we start and where do we stop? That’s my concern,” he said.
