Chap. 150.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 26 of the Alcoholic Beverage
Control Act, approved March 7, 1934, so as to authorize cities and towns, in
imposing local merchants’ and local restaurant license taxes, to include alcoholic
beverages in the base for measuring such taxes, [H B 84]

Approved March 11, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That section twenty-six of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act
cH. 150] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 209

approved March seventh, nineteen hundred thirty-four, be amended and
re-enacted, as follows:

Section 26. Local licenses—(a) In addition to the foregoing State
licenses provided for in this act, the council or other governing body of
each city and town in the State is hereby authorized to provide by ordi-
nance for the issuance of city and town licenses, and to charge and col-
lect license taxes therefor, to persons licensed by the Board to manufac-
ture, bottle and/or sell, within said city or town, alcoholic beverages. The
license taxes which may be charged and collected by such cities and towns
shall not exceed the following sums:

First. For each distiller’s license, one thousand dollars per annum;
no such local license shall be required for any person who shall manu-
facture not more than five thousand gallons of alcohol or spirits or both
during such license year ;

Second. For each winery license, one thousand dollars per annum;

Third. For each brewery license, one thousand dollars per annum;

Fourth. For each bottler’s license, five hundred dollars per annum ;

Fifth. For each wholesale beer license, in a city of the first class,
two hundred and fifty dollars, in a city of the second class, one hundred
and twenty-five dollars, and in a town, seventy-five dollars, per annum;

Fifth-a. For each wholesale wine distributor’s license, fifty dollars
per annum, and for each wholesale druggist license, ten dollars per an-
num ;

Sixth. For each retail on-premises wine and beer license for a
hotel, restaurant or club, and for each retail off-premises wine and beer
license, in a city of the first class, one hundred and fifty dollars, in a city
of the second class, seventy-five dollars, and in a town, thirty-seven dollars
and fifty cents, per annum ;

Seventh. For each retail on-premises beer license for a hotel,
restaurant or club, and for each druggist license, in a city of the first class,
one hundred dollars, in a city of the second class, fifty dollars, and in a
town, twenty-five dollars, per annum ;

Eighth. For each banquet license, five dollars.

(b) No local license tax shall be either charged or collected for
the privilege of selling wine and beer, or beer, in dining-rooms and other
designated rooms of boats, and dining cars, buffet cars and club cars of
trains, when carrying passengers, for consumption on the premises only.

(c) The council or other governing body of a city may, in its dis-
cretion, classify licenses and graduate the license taxes therefor in such
manner as it may deem proper.

(d) No city or town shall issue any such local license to any per-
on, unless such person shall hold or shall secure simultaneously there-
with the proper State license provided for in this act. If any person shall
10ld any such local license without at the same time holding the proper
State license provided for by this act, such local license shall, during
he period when such person does not hold the proper State license, con-
er no rights, powers or privileges under the provisions of this act upon
uch person. ]
The council or other governing body of each city and town in the
State, in imposing local wholesale merchants’ license taxes measured by
purchases, local retail merchants’ license taxes measured by sales, and
local restaurant license taxes measured by sales, may include alcoholic
beverages in the base for measuring such local license taxes the same as
if the alcoholic beverages were non-alcoholic; and no local alcoholic
beverage license authorized by this act shall be construed as exempting
any licensee from any local merchants’ or local restaurant license tax, but
such local merchants’ and local restaurant license taxes may be in addi-
tion to the local alcoholic beverage license taxes authorized by this act;
provided, however, that the council or other governing body of any city
or town, in adopting an ordinance under this section, shall provide that,
in ascertaining the liability of a beer wholesaler to local merchants’ license
taxation under the ordinance, and 1n computing the local wholesale mer-
chants’ license tax on such beer wholesaler, purchases of beer up to a
stated amount shall be disregarded, which stated amount shall be the
amount of beer purchases which would be necessary to produce a local
wholesale merchants’ license tax equal to the local wholesale beer license
tax paid by such wholesaler; and such ordinance shall also provide that,
in ascertaining the liability of a wholesale wine distributor to local mer-
chants’ license taxation under the ordinance, and in computing the local
wholesale merchants’ license tax on such wholesale wine distributor,
purchases of wine up to a stated amount shall be disregarded, which
stated amount shall be the amount of wine purchases which would be
necessary to produce a local wholesale merchants’ license tax equal to
the local wholesale wine distributors’ license tax paid by such wholesale
wine distributor; and provided, further, that if any such beer wholesaler
or wholesale wine distributor pays no separate beverage license tax under
chapter three of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred thirty-three by
reason of section twenty-six-a of this act, the words “beer” and “wine”
as used in the foregoing proviso shall be construed to include the bever-
ages covered by said chapter three of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen
hundred thirty-three.

No city or town shall impose any local alcoholic beverage license on
any wholesaler or distributor for the privilege of delivering alcoholic
beverages in the city or town on orders previously taken when such
wholesaler or distributor maintains no place of business in such city or
town.