By Trina A. San Agustin
Variety News Staff

AT LEAST 40 years have passed since the Department of Revenue and Taxation increased a majority of its service fees, according to Sen. Adolpho Palacios, D-Ordot/Chalan Pago, who introduced two measures which aim to raise the fees and strengthen the enforcement by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
Palacios introduced Bill 64 to allow Rev and Tax to adjust certain ABC Board fees, including increasing by 50 percent the alcohol wholesaler’s license fee from $500 to $1,000, and the ABC Board club license fee from $250 to $500.
Bill 65, meanwhile, aims to strengthen enforcement by the ABC Board.
The two bills were originally introduced in the 28th Guam Legislature as Bill 199.
According to Palacios, Bill 199 was written and requested by Rev and Tax through the governor’s office, based on the Rev and Tax fee structure.
“Some adjustments were recommended on some of the fees but it (Bill 199) was never given to the committee, so it was a dead issue. I am convinced at this point that many of these fees should be adjusted upwards to reflect more accurately the cost associated with these services. Many of these fees are at least 40 or 50 years old,” Palacios told Variety.
He said related bills will be introduced, involving vending fees and marriage licenses, among other things.
“Bill 64 deals strictly with the alcoholic beverage licensing fees and regulations. There are others but I want to package these fees by category so that it is easier to address and discuss them,” he added.
Palacios said he has met and consulted with Rev and Tax on these issues.
Currently, 30 to 40 percent of the costs of ABC Board services are being recovered.
“So the people of Guam who have been subsidizing this service…we want to raise that up by 80 percent. Why not? The people of Guam will still subsidize it. That is the intention,” Palacios said.