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Council proposes fairer alcohol licensing fees to ease ratepayer burden
Hamilton City Council is asking the community for feedback on a proposal to address a financial imbalance in alcohol licensing costs.
Currently, the fees set by legislation have not increased in more than 11 years and do not cover the full costs of licensing activities. As a result, ratepayers have been subsidising these costs by up to 29% and this is expected to grow year on year. Council is proposing to introduce an Alcohol Fees Bylaw that would reduce the ratepayer subsidy to 5%.