PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria City Council voted Tuesday night on two measures that will cut 2021 license renewal fees in half for establishments with indoor video gaming and on-site liquor consumption.
For gaming establishments, license renewals will go from $500 to $250, while owners of facilities with on-site liquor consumption will be paying 50% of what they’d normally pay for their type of license.
Additionally, current liquor licenses were extended through the end of April at no extra charge to licensees.
Each respective measure passed unanimously.
“This does not give anything but a partnership with our businesses to be able to let them know we understand the expenses [and] the fragility of their business and the fact they’ve had to tailor their business or, in some cases, not be able to operate at all,” said At-Large Council Member Sid Ruckriegel.
“This really does let them know we understand what they’ve been doing.”
With the passages, Peoria became one of a handful of cities in the state to exercise such leniency. Rockford enacted 50% reduction legislation, while cities such as Springfield and Normal waived fees, completely, though Normal, like Peoria, added the stipulation if an establishment is found guilty of COVID-19 guideline violation, it must pay the license renewal in full 30 days after being found guilty.
“I think it is something our businesses need and I fully support it, and I think it’s a well-thought out plan, comparable to what other cities have done, and I also support not giving this relief to those businesses that aren’t complying with the governor’s mitigation order,” said At-Large Council Member Beth Jensen.
2021 licenses will expire at the end of February 2022.
Establishments that sell alcohol but do not have on-site consumption were exempted from the ordinance. These include convenience stores, grocery stores, and liquor stores, totaling 49 of the city’s 229 liquor licensees.
