Starting on June 1, liquor sales in Washington were handed over from the state to private businesses. What has that done to the bottom line at restaurants? (AP Photo/file)

At the beginning of this month, liquor sales were handed
over from the state to private businesses. As restaurant
owners, Seattle Kitchen Show hosts Tom Douglas and Thierry
Rautureau, say they’re still keeping an eye on how the
switch will impact their bottom line.

“It’s a little bit of a transition time. I think a little
bit more time under the belt will tell us what the outcome
is,” says Rautureau.

One thing he noticed right off the bat though was a few
more lines on his liquor invoices.

“At first it was scary because it starts with a number,
and then there’s two more numbers added to it,” says
Rautureau. “Then on the bottom, you’re like ‘holy cow.'”

The initiative imposed an additional 10 percent
distributor fee and a 17 percent retail fee on spirits to
reimburse the state for millions of dollars in lost
revenue.

Even though he had sticker shock at first, Rautureau says
when he compares his price per ounce now to what he paid
when purchasing liquor from the state, it’s actually not
that far off.

“You go back to your old invoice and you go, ‘oh no, it’s
the same thing it’s just written differently,'” says
Rautureau.

Co-host Tom Douglas says he enjoys seeing the state fees
right out there in front of him.

“I think it’s kind of interesting to see what the state is
collecting. Because when you just pay $30 for a bottle of
booze, you don’t know the mix,” says Douglas. “It gives me
an idea of where the bottom line price is, and what’s
going to our state.”

The state had controlled liquor sales in Washington since
the time of Prohibition, and while Douglas says he has no
problem with the state being responsible with enforcement
of liquor licenses and regulations, he thinks voters
approval of Initiative 1183, putting the sale of liquor
back in the hands of private companies, was a good move.

“I’m thrilled of the change. It never made sense to me,”
says Douglas. “The idea that somehow or another only the
state had the wherewithal to sell me a bottle of Jack
Daniels always kind of rubbed me the wrong way because it
just wasn’t that way with anything else, not cigarettes,
not wine, not beer. It was a nonsense.”

Meanwhile, supporters of I-1183 have filed a lawsuit
challenging the state’s rules for implementing it,
claiming that liquor regulators circumvented the measure
by arbitrarily restricting wholesale distribution and
pricing of wine and spirits.

The complaints do not directly relate to liquor prices for
consumers, but instead center on Washington Liquor Control
Board rules that restrict retail sales to restaurants and
distributors’ deliveries, among other things, and that
plaintiffs contend benefit large, out-of-state
distributors.

Initiative 1183, allows stores larger than 10,000 square
feet and some smaller stores to sell spirits. The measure
was the costliest in state history thanks to a $22 million
investment from Costco.

Under the measure, no single sale from a retailer to a
restaurant can exceed 24 liters. The Liquor Control Board
interpreted that language as 24 liters per day, and the
lawsuit challenges that ruling.

A coalition of initiative backers, including the
Washington Restaurant Association, the Northwest Grocery
Association and warehouse giant Costco Wholesale Corp.,
filed the lawsuit Thursday in Thurston County Superior
Court.

The Liquor Control Board said in a statement that it was
still reviewing the lawsuit. But it called the plaintiff’s
message “one-sided and inaccurate” and said the rules were
adopted as the soundest legal interpretation.

Seattle
Kitchen can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM on Saturday at 8
a.m., Sunday at 10 a.m. Available anytime ON
DEMAND at MyNorthwest.com.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor
The
Associated Press contributed to this report.