Saying that a 12-year-old excise tax has yet to be paid by a single local business, officials in suburban Harvey have suspended the business licenses of at least half of the city’s bars and restaurants that serve liquor.
According to a press release issued Monday, Harvey officials say that the suspension of the licenses stems from failure to adhere to the terms of an excise tax that went into effect in 2008. City officials say that all local business owners who hold a liquor license are required to file sales reports monthly and to pay taxes, but to date, not a single owner has done so.
“These taxes pay for much-needed services,” Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark said in a statement. “It is my responsibility to get Harvey residents the services they are due. For too many years, they were allowed to not pay, and that time has come to an end.”
It is unclear how many businesses have had their licenses suspended, but city officials say that they could have potentially suspended the licenses of every single liquor-license holder in town.
“While the city could have suspended all of the businesses, it remained sensitive to the impact of business closures on the resident,” the city said in a statement. “Therefore, a decision was made to issue the letter to approximately half of the violators.”
Business owners who have had their licenses suspended will be required to access copies of tax forms at City Hall, according to the press release.
