Critics question financial impact of early closing

Date: 4/23/2012

April 23, 2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — Fewer bars means less taxes and fees paid to the city of Springfield at a time when Mayor Domenic Sarno is predicting more difficult times.

Although the Board of License Commissioners has yet to take any action, the idea that Springfield would alter its closing time for alcohol sales from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. has some people concerned about the future of the Entertainment District and the financial impact such a move would have on the city.

In a statement sent to the media on April 18 in reaction to widespread rumors, Sarno wrote of the 1 a.m. closing time, "I believe this is something the city's License Commission is looking at very closely. I am in favor of an earlier closing time as it brings continued continuity to closing time and more importantly better overall public safety to visitors, our residents and to the business community."

This comes on the heels of a decision earlier this month to shut off entertainment at 1 a.m. for most of the city's bars and nightclubs.

Donald Courtemanche, executive director of the Springfield Business Improvement District, said that he and several members of his board would speak to the mayor this week about the proposal.

Asked by Reminder Publications how a 1 a.m. closing would affect a casino coming to the city, Sarno said that decisions such as changing the closing time are "reviewable" and that a casino would be "a different animal."

Attorney Frank Caruso, who represents the owners of many bars and restaurants in the city, called the new recommendation from Sarno "outrageous." He noted that one of his clients, the Alumni Club, has lost 30 to 40 percent of its business just from the 1 a.m. entertainment closing.

"How many places are going to close?" he asked. "We're chasing business out of Springfield."

He also represents bars and nightclubs in a number of neighboring communities and he said many of them are already promoting the fact that entertainment at those establishments goes on until 2 a.m.

Bars and nightclubs annually pay a $2,800 fee to the city for its liquor license and another $600 split between the city and state for an entertainment license, Caruso noted. If there are fewer bars there will also be less in personal property taxes paid to the city.

Consider as well the money made by the city with its enhanced meals tax, Caruso added. Springfield was one of the municipalities that added 0.75 percent to the state-mandated 6.25 percent meals tax. When it was initiated in fiscal year 2010, the annual benefit to the city was estimated at $1.3 million. Every drink bought in city's bars contributes to that local revenue. Cut the numbers of drinks and meals and the extra revenue to the city decreases, Caruso noted.

Since the audience for most of the bars in the Entertainment District is younger, they tend to visit these establishments later, Caruso explained. Many patrons don't start their evening out until 10 or 11 p.m., so any cut in closing time directly affects a business's bottom line, he added.

More fallout from such a move comes in the public safety sector, Caruso said.

"If I'm a bar owner and I lose 40 percent of my business, I've got to cut somewhere. I can't cut alcohol because that is what I'm selling. I can't cut food. I can't cut my bartenders who are selling the alcohol. The Alumni Club is spending $72,000 a year on hiring a police detail. They can't afford that anymore," he said.

The city, Caruso added, would have to add more police patrols to make up for the police who used to be hired by the bars.

Caruso believes that if the mass exodus of the patrons at 2 a.m. in the Entertainment District is the factor that is causing crime — an assertion he believes arrest reports don't support — then the solution would not be to decrease the closing time to 1 a.m. but to increase the closing time past 2 a.m. He maintained that in cities that have later closing times — New York City or Hartford, Conn. — have fewer problems from bars. Currently, the mayor and city council of Seattle, Wash., are considering such a move.