The City of Bethel city council will be considering a resolution that conditionally protests the renewal of a restaurant or eating place license for Fili’s Pizza, a local Bethel restaurant where beer and wine is served during their April 23rd, 2024 regular meeting.
The Bethel City Clerk’s Office received notice on March 14th, 2024 of Fili’s Pizza’s application to the State of Alaska Alcohol Beverage Control Board to renew their restaurant or eating place alcohol license.
According to Alaska Statute 4.11.100(e), which was in effect during the review period, “A license may be renewed under this section only if the license provides evidence to the board’s (Alcohol Beverage Control Board) satisfaction that gross receipts from the sale of food upon the licensed premises constitute no less than 50 percent of the gross receipts of the licensed premises for each of the two preceding calendar years.”
And, Alaska Statute 4.09.210(e), which became effective on January 1st, 2024, states that, “The holder of a restaurant or eating place license shall ensure that gross receipts from the sale of food for consumption on the licensed premises are not less than the total of the gross receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the licensed premises in each calendar year,” and “At the time the holder submits an application for renewal of the license, the holder shall submit a statement to the board certifying that the holder has met the requirement under this subsection for the designated period of the license under AS 04.11.680.”
The ABC Board may renew a restaurant or eating place license only if the licensee’s statement provides evidence satisfactory to the board that, during the designated period of the license under Alaska Statute 04.11.680, the gross receipts from the sale of food for consumption on the licensed premises were not less than the total of the gross receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the licensed premises.
Resolution 24-06, which is being introduced by Mayor Mark Springer, states that “the licensee’s gross receipts from the sale of alcohol was greater than the gross receipts from the sale of food in 2022, which violates AS 4.11.100, the statues that expired on December 31, 2023.”
Fili’s Pizza, “the licensee, has not provided evidence that for 2022 and 2023, the gross receipts of food consumed on the licensed premises is greater than the gross receipts for alcohol sales, which violated AS 4.09.210(e), the statues that went into effect January 1, 2024,” says Res. 24-06.
According to the City’s sales tax filings for Fili’s Pizza in 2022 and 2023, the gross receipts for all food sales compared to the gross receipts for the alcohol sales are:
2022
Food 49.66%
Alcohol 50.34%
2023
Food 50.11%
Alcohol 49.89%
The City notified the Alcohol Beverage Control Board on April 2nd, 2024 of these findings. The City of Bethel has until the deadline of May 13, 2024 to protest the application.
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