HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — There are about 800 alcoholic beverage licenses on island, but the number may be reduced when the renewal deadline expires at the end of August.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which is under the Department of Revenue and Taxation, met for its monthly meeting. One of the items on the agenda was the alcoholic beverage license renewal report.
Compliance supervisor Craig Camacho told the board that the expiration date for licenses was July 1 and the end of August was the automatic suspension period. As of July 1, there were 801 licenses and, as of Wednesday, 763 had been renewed.
“We do have 14 licenses that are currently under temporary suspension. … By statute, they have until Aug. 31 to be compliant,” Camacho said. “And then, come Sept. 1, whoever is not compliant or hasn’t renewed is being automatically revoked.”
Camacho said his compliance team is looking at doing inspections for those with licenses under temporary suspension, but some have shut down.
“Some of these are actually closed and then a good handful are actually still working with our department regarding some of their finances and accounting issues to get compliant before renewal,” Camacho said.
Some closures were the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, others due to Typhoon Mawar.
The number of licenses led ABC Board Chair Lisa Fisher to question the average number of licenses year-to-year.
“Is 801 like our average per year?” Fisher asked.
Camacho responded the number was low.
“When I started, … in 2016, we were renewing 1,300 licenses a year and then that slowly decreased. Our average right before COVID was 1,100,” Camacho said.
“Hopefully, with some of the federal aid, we will see an increase.”
The Department of Revenue and Taxation building is seen March 1, 2023, in Barrigada Heights.