AGO 1991-022.

Case DateJuly 07, 1991
CourtConnecticut
Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 1991. AGO 1991-022. July 7, 1991Opinion No. 1991-022William W. SullivanChairmanDepartment of Liquor Control165 Capitol AvenueHartford, CT 06106 Dear Chairman Sullivan: The issue in this request for opinion is whether the census data, received by the state on January 24, 1991, constitutes "the most recently completed decennial census" within the meaning of Conn. Gen.. Stat. §30-14a. That statute, known as the Package Store Ratio Law, establishes a formula allowing issuance of new package store permits in towns based on the results of the decennial census. The statute provides as follows:
The department of liquor control shall not issue any package store permit for a period o five years from June 8, 1981, but may renew any such permit issued prior to said date and may allow the removal of premises operated under any such permit prior to said date. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any permit for which application was made to the department prior to June 8, 1981. A package store permit premises may be removed, or the permit may be renewed, by the person to whom it was issued or by any person who is a transferee or purchaser of premises operating under a package store permit and who meets the requirements of this chapter concerning eligibility for a liquor permit. Commencing five years after June 8, 1981, the department may issue one package store permit for every twenty-five hundred residents of a town as determined by the most recently completed decennial census. The department may authorize the holder of such permit to remove his permit premises to a location in another town provided such removal complies with the provisions of this chapter.
Conn. Gen.. Stat. § 30-14a (Emphasis added). For the following reasons, we believe that the January 24, 1991 data constitute the completed census for purposes of the Package Store Ratio Law. By way of background, the legislative history of the Ratio Law demonstrates that it was enacted as apart of a package of revisions to the Liquor Control Act, the centerpiece of which was the elimination of minimum price markups to make the industry more price competitive, benefiting the consumer and generating increased sales tax revenues to the State of Connecticut. 1981 Conn. Pub.. Acts No. 81-294; Remarks of Rep. Carragher, 24 H. Proc. 1981...

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