HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania municipalities received more than $2.3 million in licensing fees collected on their behalf by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board during a six month period that ended July 31.

Fees are collected whenever a liquor license application, renewal or validation is approved, according to Patrick J. "P.J." Stapleton III, chairman of the Liquor Control Board. The money is distributed to the municipality in which the license is located to help defray the cost of local law enforcement. The Liquor Control Board makes distributions twice a year.

"The $2.3 million the Liquor Control Board distributed this summer went to municipalities in 66 of 67 Pennsylvania counties, adding to the $2.2 million we distributed in the first half of the year," Stapleton said.

The largest distribution during the six months that ended in July was in the amount of $385,875 to the City of Pittsburgh, Stapleton added.

"License fees are based on the type of license and the population of the municipality in which it is located," said Jerry W. Waters Sr., director of the Liquor Control Board's Bureau of Regulatory Affairs. The bureau oversees the regulation of almost 20,000 liquor licensees and permittees statewide, including restaurants, clubs and beer distributors. To maintain the privilege of selling alcohol, licensees and permitees are required by Pennsylvania's Liquor Code to renew or validate their licenses annually.

Established in 1933 at the end of national Prohibition, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol. In addition to its regulating the industry, the Liquor Control Board operates 618 Wine & Spirits Stores. The Liquor Control Board reported sales of more than $1.8 billion in fiscal 2008-09 and a return of $494.5 million in taxes and profits to the state's General Fund, helping to pay the cost of essential services such as education, health care, infrastructure and public safety.

Media contact: Nick Hays or Francesca Chapman, 717-783-8864.

Editor's note: For a complete, county-by-county list of municipalities receiving fee distributions, click here or call the Liquor Control Board Press Office at 717-783-8864.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

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