Hearings on Municipal Liquor Store Losses

Cities operating municipal liquor stores must hold a public hearing not more than 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year regarding the future of the liquor store if the operation of the liquor store has experienced losses, before transfers and without regard to costs related to pension obligations of store employees, as required by Statement 68 of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, in any two of the past three consecutive years.

The governing statute is Minn. Stat. § 340A.602. The public hearing must be held not more than 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year following the three-year period. For example, a city with liquor store operations that experienced two years of losses during the three-year period ending December 31, 2019, must hold a public hearing on or after November 17, 2020.

For more information on the hearing requirement, see our Statement of Position on Municipal Liquor Store Hearings, which can be found here.

Date this Avoiding Pitfall was most recently published: 10/08/2021