Despite smaller increase, Lysander Brewery still in jeopardy
NEW YORK STATE -- The proposed New York State budget still calls for an increase in the beer and wine tax, but far less than originally considered.
For months, the owners of the Budweiser plant near Baldwinsville have been signaling that if the state increases taxes, the future of the plant could be in jeopardy. The Anheuser-Busch plant in Lysander employs more than 800 people with an annual payroll of $67 million.
Earlier this year, Governor David Paterson proposed increasing the excise tax from the current 11 cents a gallon to 24 cents a gallon. The current budget proposal, set for a vote on Wednesday, reduces the increase to 14 cents a gallon, but it's still being met with opposition. In a statement issued this afternoon, Anheuser-Busch Vice President ,Jerry Mullane, said the company was "extremely disappointed that lawmakers are still considering an excise tax on beer." Mullane called it a "shortsighted proposal that will threaten jobs at breweries, wholesalers, suppliers and retailers in Central New York."
Onondaga County legislator Rich Lesniak, who represents Lysander, has legislation before Tuesday's meeting of the County Ways and Means Committee calling upon the state legislature to reject the beer and wine tax hike. Lesniak says, although the budget calls for less of an increase, it could still throw the plant's future into doubt.
Lesniak says if the state legislature enacts the beer and wine tax before the full Onondaga County legislature votes, he will amend his legislation. Instead of recommending rejection of the tax, it would then call for repeal.
