Where Do Liquor Sales Tax dollars Go?

With all this talk about liquor tax dollars, it's interesting to know where your tax dollars have been going. The WSLCB provides this graphic as a breakdown of the typical bottle of liquor:

In the 2011 fiscal year, Washington State collected $22,482,821 in liquor taxes. The site notes:

The retail price of liquor currently being sold in state and contract liquor stores is determined by five elements:

1. Distiller's, brewer's or vintner's price to the Board
2. Federal taxes - excise tax rates on all liquor, plus custom duty rates on imported liquor
3. Freight costs
4. Markup (see table below), which is controlled by the Board. Markup covers operating costs of the state liquor control system and provides a yearly profit that is shared by the state and local government. The Board's markup is comparable to the wholesale and retail markup applied by private businesses and is also expressed as margin on sales for comparative purposes
5. State sales taxes (see table below), which is set by the state Legislature

To recoup much of the income WSLCB loses on the sales of alcohol after I-1183, the state is mandating a 10% fee to distributors and a 17% fee to retailers. These costs could be transferred on to patrons of these establishments. A Washington State fiscal report noted, however: Governor, Christine Gregoire has argued that expanding sales would help generate more revenue for the state but cautions that more sales may generate new costs to the state - for example, in treatment for drug and alcohol abusers.

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