Oregon beer tax hike.

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Message Reid beers 3528 º places 95 º 19:17 Sat 2/21/2009 Originally posted by TimE Not that in anyway I support the bill whatsoever, as I never believe in tax increases on beer (or tax increases in general). However, $49/31 gallons, hardly seems severe (about $0.47 cent/liter). It’s amazing that that is a 1800% increase in tax. It seems tax must be fairly cheap on beer. That said, I also question the logic why beer is discriminated against and hard liquor and wine get off. That is total BS. America still seems to have relatively low sin taxes in general compared to other developed nation. Tim It is a huge increase. $49 a barrel will take Oregon from the bottom 4 in beer tax to the very top. Washington and Idaho have it around $8 a barrel. Most of us beer drinkers in Oregon would not be opposed if it was raised to $8 but $49 is horrific.
Message josarah beers 112 º places 123 º 11:44 Wed 3/11/2009 I’ll bet that if you had a way to track DUI/health issues associated with alchohol consumption the rankings would look something like this: #1 Large Breweries #2 Wine #3 Hard Liquor #4 Craft Brews (#1 having the most offenders #4 having the least) This tax is so ass-backwards.
Message Zach Diesel beers 905 º places 6 º 22:33 Thu 3/12/2009 I am curious, who came up with the $4.5 to $6 increase in the price of a pint? It would only increase taxes on a pint by about a 25 cents. How would the tax then compare to other states and what are pint prices in those states? Couldn’t agree more that it has to be some wine/hard liquor lobbyist behind this. It is amazing at how they are trying to sell this bill as it doesn’t even seem remotely logical. I would say beer drinkers let Ben Cannon know they agree that a 1900% increase on all alcoholic beverages is necessary to get rid of alcohol addiction. See Ben try to wiggle out of that. I would be a great idea to get someone else to propose this if Ben’s bill fails. Then see if Ben supports the bill and show what a hypocrite he really is. Just to be clear, this bill would impact micros right? (I just can’t see everyone here getting upset if it only impacted macros). The reason I ask is because Ben’s website (last updated in Sept) said he wanted to exempt micros http://www.repbencannon.com/2009_priorities Tim Tim Previous incarnations of the beer tax hike have excluded Oregon micros but the current house bill includes all brewers, large and small. The arguments being made in favor of this tax increase are incredibly specious, in some cases insinuating that the thriving beer industry takes away money from substance abuse programs. Irene Firmat from Full Sail made a great point on OPB’s Think Out Loud yesterday. I’m paraphrasing but essentially she said that if a group of people came to the state in the 1970’s and proposed to start an industry that would be incredibly green, create thousands of jobs, and bring the state worldwide recognition, how much money would the state have given for that? The fact is Oregon’s robust brewing industry has thrived for a number of reasons but one of those is the relatively low beer tax (7th lowest in the nation, not THE lowest as the neo-prohibitionist smear campaign may have you believe) which allows small brewers to compete in a flooded market. Ironically we have 2 Oregon congressman in DC fighting for the rights of craft brewers, while back at home our state legislature is trying to gut the same industry to make up for their own lack of fiscal responsibility with the state budget. The whole thing makes me sick.

Message cheap P beers 8840 º places 327 º 11:36 Fri 3/13/2009 to make up for their own lack of fiscal responsibility with the budget. Isn’t this what it is all about? fiscal responsibility? may I also state three times: The whole thing makes me sick. The whole thing makes me sick. The whole thing makes me sick. Our governments are out of control!
Message SuzyGreenberg beers 1604 º places 32 º 12:19 Fri 3/13/2009 wasn’t a similar bill proposed in California last year? this idea seems oddly familiar and not sure what ended up happening in CA
Message Hopstar 12:46 Fri 3/13/2009 Originally posted by TimE I am curious, who came up with the $4.5 to $6 increase in the price of a pint? It would only increase taxes on a pint by about a 25 cents. Tim Well, it’s a production-level tax, which means the brewer has to factor it into the cost of goods when they sell it to the distributor. Say it currently costs them ~$60 to produce a keg; they mark it up 25-30% and sell it to the distributor for $90. The distributor marks it up 25-30% and sells it to the bar for $120-130. This puts the price per pint at roughly $1. If the breweries have to add $25/keg it brings their cost of goods up to $85-90, and their selling price increases to somewhere around $120-130. The distributor then factors this increased price into their cost of goods, tacks on a 25-30% margin and sells the keg to the bar/retailer for $160-175. Most bars run at about 350-400% markup on pints, so if you divide $170 into 120 pints you get a cost of $1.41/pint, and a selling price of somewhere around $5-$5.75. Bear in mind that this example uses prices on the low end of the craft price range. Anything imperial that comes at a substantial premium will be even more noticeably affected. To break it down another way: ~There’s 27.5 6pks in a keg, which means the tax would add $.90 to the price of a 6pk at the production level. ~The distributor adds 25% (at least) and that $.90 becomes $1.21/6pk ~The retailer adds 25% (at least) and that $1.21 becomes $1.61/6pk ...and that’s how a "$.25/pint tax" becomes $5-6 pints and adds $1.50-2.00 to the price of a 6pk. I think what irks me the most is that they act as though the breweries aren’t currently paying their fair share. They already pay all the taxes that any other business in OR pays (corporate, payroll, unemployment, and other taxes), plus an extra tax on the products they produce.
Message TimE P beers 8459 º places 409 º 19:49 Wed 4/15/2009 Today is D-Day. What is the word on this? I can’t find anything in the press as of this moment. When someone knows, can they please post here? Thanks tim

Message ajm beers 1073 º places 202 º 21:10 Wed 4/15/2009 Originally posted by josarah I’ll bet that if you had a way to track DUI/health issues associated with alchohol consumption the rankings would look something like this: #1 Large Breweries #2 Wine #3 Hard Liquor #4 Craft Brews (#1 having the most offenders #4 having the least) This tax is so ass-backwards. I would revise and put #3 at #1. I would also go you one better: I bet DUIs resulting from craft beer over-consumption are less frequent than those resulting from legal medication like pain killers, anti-depressants, etc. Respect beer.
Message walleye beers 1101 º places 56 º 21:20 Wed 4/15/2009 Originally posted by Reid It is huge. http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2400.dir/hb2461.intro.pdf This is a terrible Bill for the Oregon beer industry. 1800% increase per barrel. But as usual wine and hard liquor are absolved from this. The tax will go towards alcohol and drug treatment. So why wasnt it applied to wine? Yeah because the elitists in Salem love wine and look down on beer. Isn’t your governor a democrat
Message SphinxTX beers 2875 º places 41 º 21:51 Wed 4/15/2009 Originally posted by Reid It is huge. http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2400.dir/hb2461.intro.pdf This is a terrible Bill for the Oregon beer industry. 1800% increase per barrel. But as usual wine and hard liquor are absolved from this. The tax will go towards alcohol and drug treatment. So why wasnt it applied to wine? Yeah because the elitists in Salem love wine and look down on beer. Are you shitting us???????????? WoW!!!!!!!! Thats ridiculous!!!! Thats some BAD news!!!