To comply with House Bill 879 signed by Governor Brian Kemp last year, Duluth recently took a comprehensive look at their entire alcohol ordinance.
HB 879 requires the GA Department of Revenue to develop and implement a state-wide, centralized application process for retail alcohol licensing. This new process ensures applications, both for new businesses as well as renewals are sent simultaneously to the state and the city to be managed through the Department of Revenue’s streamlined portal, the Georgia Tax Center.
To meet the state’s Jan. 12 deadline for new applications to be processed through the system, Duluth worked quickly to bring an amended alcohol ordinance before the city council. Several housekeeping items were tweaked as part of this amended ordinance, such as deletions of items the city no longer regulates (wine tastings in grocery stores, wine tasting rooms, etc).
Currently the changes will not affect any of the city’s existing fee structures.
The second phase of the state’s process for “renewal licensing” is being developed and will become effective later this year.
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