S.F. Fee on Alcohol Approved, Faces Likely Veto

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has approved a surcharge on alcohol distribution to offset costs associated with problem drinking, the Associated Press reported Sept. 15.

The Board approved the fee 7-3, with one abstention. The proposal needed eight votes to survive a veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has said he opposes it. 

The new fee would bring in an estimated $16 million annually for emergency services, treatment programs, and arrests related to alcohol consumption, and would go into effect next year. Wholesalers, pubs, and wine makers distributing alcohol would have to pay 35 cents per gallon of beer, $1 per gallon of wine, and $3.20 per gallon of distilled spirits. 

Newsom, who has owned a wine business, said, “Pursuing this likely illegal new fee in this economic environment will impact thousands of businesses, cost jobs and put San Francisco at a competitive disadvantage with every other county in California.”