This might not be worth a new thread but couldn't find a relevant place to tack it onto a current thread. What are the new taxes and higher prices for beers in Minneapolis attributed to? I think I hearing something about a new minimum wage law affecting this but that wouldn't affect the taxes would it? Two pints at a place in Minneapolis last weekend. $6.50 a beer + $1.75 tax=$14.75 for two beers. Just about $7.50 a beer. I haven't been to this place for about a year but I think the beers were closer to $5-5.50 then and I don't recall the high tax. Side bar question: Do most places tax for beers these days or is it built into the price? Just curious. I know prices are going to be higher in Minneapolis but I don't remember them this steep with the tax included.
Depends on where you were in the city and and if there was entertainment going on or not at the establishment you were at. My crystal ball tells me based on what you paid, you were either listening to a band at the bar/restaurant you were at or you were in the coveted "downtown" zone. This document should spell out the what's and why's you're looking for, page for maps out what classifies as "downtown" and page 5 breaks down how things are taxed: https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/PriorFileDocument/-63028/WCMSP-178615.PDF Minneapolis gets nice things because they find ways to get people to pay for them.
I work downtown in the warehouse district, and we swear that a few placed jacked menu prices for the Super Bowl and then again for march madness... and decided to just keep those prices effective afterwards.
I was inside the downtown zone but it was around noon on a Saturday. I'm not complaining on the prices just trying to figure the rational. Thought I'd heard something about a minimum wage law for Minneapolis affecting things.
If it's been a year since you last visited that may account for the cost increase. Here's a breakdown on how the wages will increase until they hit the goal of $15/hour (keeping in mind there is no exception for people who receive tips on top of their base wage):
Minimum wage doesn't factor into the taxes at all. $13.00 + 13.275% (downtown liquor on sale rate) = $14.725 Tax table
How long has the downtown liquor on sale rate been 13.275? Does St. Paul have a similar tax structure? Guessing maybe the price per pint was raised slightly due to that minimum wage increase since I had last been there and then that sales tax rate added to it accounts for it.
The cost of beer is getting ridiculous in general. Then you go downtown for a game or concert and one beer is the same price as a 6 pack or 4 tallboys.
Add on the cost of parking or other transportation. The cost of a couple of beers downtown is why I go to the suburbs and avoid the down town breweries.
I go downtown to places like Fulton,Inbound,modist,Graze,First Tap,Red Cow,Hop Cat Bus Stop ,on Sundays only,(non game day, Vikings,Twins) and pay zero or very little to park.
Sounds to me like you're looking for someone to validate a view you already have. The 7.775% sales tax in Minneapolis is made up of state, county, city, and special taxes. Minnesota state sales tax is 6.875% Hennepin County sales tax is 0.15% City of Minneapolis sales tax is 0.5% Transit Improvement Tax is 0.25% Liquor Tax is 2.5% for all liquor sales, on-site and off-site, from liquor stores, restaurants, bars, at sporting events, and at other venues. Downtown Liquor Tax On-site liquor sales in bars, restaurants and at sporting events in Downtown Minneapolis are taxed an extra 3% on top of the 2.5% liquor tax. It appears the 3% tax started in 2015, but I wouldn't swear to it.
Thanks for the info. So really the only new tax is the extra 3% and that has been in place for longer than a year it sounds. Interesting. I know people who own businesses post here so I was kind of hoping to maybe hear from them what has caused this rise in prices. Not looking to validate anything honestly. I could be way off. I'd heard something along the lines that prices would be going up because of it awhile back and just wondering if that is what is causing this. One thing that hasn't been addressed it how often do bars, breweries tack on the sales tax after the price of the beer and how often do they just build that into the price of the beer. And if you pay cash does it make a difference in having to pay the tax. I know by me a few places tack on the tax and a credit card fee if you pay with a card but no tax and obviously no credit card fee if you pay cash.
Yes, the increasing minimum wage is causing prices to rise by increasing labor costs. In practice, many small businesses price their products to aim for a certain profit margin, and if there's any slack in the market that permits firms to still sell sufficient output at higher prices, they'll go ahead and do so when their costs rise. Frankly, that's the outcome that proponents of increased minimum wages (at least those who have some understanding of economics) claim to seek: That the minimum wage doesn't result in business closures and unemployment but rather has a redistributive effect as rising prices cause consumers to cover the legally mandated increased wages of workers. That said, there are other factors at play, including various other burdensome regulatory policies in Minneapolis besides the minimum wage as well as increasing property taxes that raise the cost of doing business. In addition, the fairly strong (for how much longer, who knows?) macroeconomic environment has enabled more people to feel financially secure enough to blow money on booze and other entertainment, and cultural tastes have shifted to value both craft beer and urban bar environments (relative to their suburban counterparts) more than in the past. Note also that the rate of opening of new craft breweries in Minneapolis has plummeted, due both to perceived saturation in the market and worry by prospective brewery owners about the regulatory burden on Minneapolis-based small businesses, so supply arguably hasn't kept up with demand. Higher demand means that establishments have the slack to increase prices, and people's increased desire to live and work in cities proper pushes up real estate prices and rents, which further increase the cost of doing business. So we're seeing a leftward shift in the supply curve from the increasing minimum wage and other regulations as well as rent and property taxes and a rightward shift in the demand curve from more consumers participating as taproom and bar customers and preferring urban options when they do. Both of those phenomena lead to higher prices. I'm not saying that's the full explanation, but it's a partial explanation. Minneapolis is playing catch-up in this regard to other large cities, which long have featured significantly higher prices than national averages or even than their own suburbs have. Some will take that as a flattering sign that Minneapolis is an important big city. Others will lament that they put up with ridiculous winters in part because the cost of living historically has been so much more reasonable here than it has been in more prominent places. In addition, last I read, the downtown Minneapolis sales taxes on alcohol are the highest sales taxes in the country, and, yes, they've gone up in recent years. And of course with rising base prices, the actual dollar burden of that tax goes up even if the rate stays the same. As for whether the taxes are baked into the price, that depends. I usually pay cash at the time of purchase for beer, and I usually don't get charged for additional sales tax when I do, inside or outside of Minneapolis. I find when I pay by credit card, or if I start a tab and pay either by cash or credit card, I'm more likely to be charged the additional sales tax, but I do that infrequently enough that it's hard for me to say how often that occurs. I believe that many breweries and bars effectively have a bifurcated policy when it comes to sales tax: If you pay in cash at time of purchase, you pay the listed price, and the establishment pays the sales tax. If you pay by credit card or when you're leaving after starting a tab, you'll be charged the sales tax on your bill. So a nice little "life hack" is always pay in cash at the time of purchase at a bar or brewery. But since bars and breweries know that they're choosing to cover the sales taxes of some proportion of their customers, any increase in the sales tax is going to be partially baked into the listed price.
The only thing that upsets me more is getting these "16oz" pours in a glass that only holds 16oz when filled to the brim. Even then it is questionable if it really holds a "pint". I'm surprised more people haven't called out places for this practice. Especially paying the prices we are charged for a "pint" now.
They've been creeping up in St. Paul too. I visit DC and NYC frequently and find that the prices at bars (and taprooms for the most part) aren't any more expensive than we pay in the Twin Cities.
