Virginia ABC Board Votes to Raise Liquor Prices 24 to 29 Cents Per Bottle

At a special meeting Monday in Richmond, the board that oversees Virginia’s ABC stores voted unanimously to raise Virginia liquor prices by 24 to 29 cents a bottle in early December to offset a gap in the state budget.

The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board hopes to generate $2.5 million for the state by marking up alcohol prices across the state’s 350 retail stores, The Associated Press reports. The move should raise about $15 million over the next 19 months, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

The three-member board also increased the ABC warehouse handling fee, raised the prices of 50-milliliter “mini-bottles,” and approved a measure to round up price increments, such as $19.90 to $19.99.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed the price increase last month to fill a projected shortfall of $2.4 billion in the state’s two-year budget. The agency netted approx. $140 million in the 2013 fiscal year and hopes the proposal will help expand annual gross sales from $800 million to $1 billion.

Effective Dec. 8, the price increases are expected to raise $5.3 million in the remaining fiscal year and $9.5 million in the next full fiscal year.

Image: Premier ABC Store in Leesburg (Patch file photo)