Convenience store owners in unincorporated Clayton County are fighting a recent county decision that doubled the cost of renewing their license to sell beer and wine.
They say the fee hike — from $2,000 to $4,000 — is higher than surrounding counties and will eventually force them to pass the cost on to customers. The new fees already have begun to have a ripple effect, some say.
Scott Pitts, a convenience store account manager at United Distributors, said at least two convenience stores have closed their doors within the last month because of the increase.
“If they have to raise the prices, it’s going to hurt my business because I won’t be able to sell as much to them,” Pitts said. “In the end, the customers won’t buy as much, or the customer may go to another store within the city limits of some towns in Clayton, or they may go to another county.”
County commissioners approved the new fee in December, saying it brought Clayton in line with other counties. But now Commission Chairman Jeff Turner wants the board to reconsider that decision. The commissioners are expected to deal with the matter at Tuesday night’s meeting.
“Even though I voted for it the first time, upon doing further research on my own, I found out we’re one of the highest (liquor license fees) in the Metro Atlanta area,” Commission Chairman Jeff Turner told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So I’m asking the board to reduce that fee back down to $2,000.”
Similar fees for convenience stores selling beer and wine in metro Atlanta range from $1,000 to $1,700 a year.
Raj Pal Patheja, who owns two convenience stores in Clayton, said he learned of the new fee price in December after getting a notice from the county that he had underpaid his license renewal fee by $2,000.
“I said there must be some mistake,” Patheja recalled. “I’m scared about it because I don’t know what implications it will have for the future of my business. We don’t know what the customer will do. We all will have to readjust our prices to reflect the increase.”
He said Clayton already has one of the highest sales taxes around — 8 percent. The alcohol license fee increase only adds to business owners’ expenses, he said.
Many convenience store owners did not pay the additional amount until the Dec. 30 deadline.
Patheja and about 100 other convenience store owners formed a group to fight the new fee and have been talking with county officials and customers about the increase. Patheja said the group has collected about 1,000 signatures from customers, asking county officials to lower the fee. Patheja said he has not increased his prices yet, hoping the matter will be amicably resolved with the county.
“It’s kind of a surprise to me,” said Harold Atkins, a long time patron of Patheja’s Shell convenience store, upon learning of the dispute.
Patheja noted that only a handful of convenience stores do more than $150,000 a year in beer and wine sales, adding that there are 170 such businesses in unincorporated Clayton.
While Pathejal concedes he does “good beer business,” he says he will eventually have to pass on the cost of the fee hike to customers if the issue is not resolved.
Meanwhile, restaurants saw their liquor license fees cut in half, from $8,000 to $4,000, according to county documents.
Efforts to reach Commissioner Michael Edmondson, who initiated the rate hike, were unsuccessful.
“Fees are not apples to apples,” Community Development Director Patrick Ejike said when told Clayton’s fee is higher than surrounding counties. “It’s different. They have different nuances in other areas.”
Here’s what some metro Atlanta convenience stores pay for alcohol licenses.
County/License fee*/ County Sales Tax
Clayton/ $4,000/ 8 percent
Cobb/ Up to $1,700**/ 6 percent
Fayette/ $1,000/ 6 percent
Henry /$1,125 /7 percent
Spalding/ $1,100/ 7 percent
* Doesn’t include fees for background checks or administrative costs.
** Alcohol fees in Cobb are based on a store’s gross receipts and whether the store sells beer and/or wine and if it has Sunday sales.
Source: the county governments
