Businesses selling liquor onsite had until Dec. 31 to pay their annual privilege tax to Johnson City, a fee that for restaurants can be in the range of $600 to $1,000 depending on their seating capacity.
But one local restaurant owner is questioning whether itâs fair to charge those fees during a year in which public health officials have encouraged restaurants to cut their maximum capacity to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
âIt just feels like a bureaucratic entanglement,â said Nathan Brand, one of the co-owners of Timber on West Walnut Street.
According to city codes, restaurants with a seating capacity of 75 to 125 seats must pay $600 annually, which increases depending on the number of seats. At max, businesses with 276 seats or more pay $1,000.