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■ Currently, there is no law that requires uniform compliance checks for alcohol retail outlets throughout Hennepin County or Minnesota. ■ Public support for mandatory compliance check policies is high. A 1997 survey of Minneapolis adults59 revealed that more than three out of five adults (62.1%) "strongly favored° or "somewhat favored° that the city increase its licensing fee to recover its cost for implementing yearly compli- ance checks. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Minnesota residents "strongly favored° or "somewhat favored" using teenagers to conduct compliance checks�°. Enforcement of the existing laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol to anyone under age 21 can be ensured through a local government ordinance that would include: ► Mandatory annual compliance checks of all liquor license holders, ► Imposing appropriate penalties for commer- cial violations, including graduated adminis- trative penalties and criminal penalties, and ► Increasing local licensing fees, if permitted, to pay for the cost of enforcement. Increase alcohol prices through higher excise taxes Increases in alcohol prices greatly reduce alcohol consumption, particularly among youth and young adults. Not indexed to inflation, Minnesota's alco- hol taxes fall far below the national average and are declining in real value. An increase in the state's excise tax rates would decrease underage alcohol consumption in Hennepin County. Our supporting evidence includes, but is not limit- ed to the following: ■ Researchers have demonstrated that raising excise taxes on alcoholic beverages is the single most effective strategy for lowering alcohol con- sumption and related problems, especially among underage youth49,61-64� ► Increases in alcohol prices significantly reduce alcohol consumptionb'. For every 10 percent increase in price, beer consumption drops approximately 3.5 percent�. ► The reductions in consumption are not limited to infrequent, light or moderate drinkers, but also occur among frequent and heavy drinkers 61,�" ► Youth and young adults, the age groups in which alcohol-related problems are disproportionately high, are generally more responsive to increases in alcohol prices than are older adults ". ► Increases in price also lead to reductions in many of the consequences of heavy drinking, reducing the incidence of liver cirrhosis mor- tality, and reducing motor vehicle accident mortality and morbidity among young people, thereby saving many young lives�•�. ► Boosting the alcohol excise tax is associated with improving college completion rates�, and ameliorating some of the other problems asso- ciated with excessive drinking, including alco- hol-related violences'. ► Moderate price hikes on beer (such as 10 cents per six-pack) and liquor (such as 30 cents per bot- tle) would decrease youth drinking as much as raising the minimum drinking age by one yeat�. ■ Alcohol taxes are low by historical and interna- tional standards: ► Compared to most other developed countries, the alcohol tax share of total federal and state tax revenue is minimal? ► Past alcohol tax increases have not caught up with the rate of inflation. As a result, the real value of state alcohol taxes has declined by over 50 percent since 1966. ► Nationwide, over 1,000 lives of 18-20 year-olds could have been saved annually if the Federal excise tax were indexed to inflation�. ■ Alcohol taxes don't come close to paying for alco- hoPs cost to society: ► Alcohol use, in general, costs society at least $100 billion annually, and underage drinking alone costs $58 billion annually for its immedi- ate consequences. In 1995, alcohol tax revenues were only $17 billiori'. ► The per-capita cost of alcohol use by people of all ages in Minnesota was estimated at $400 in 1991'°. The per-capita cost of underage alcohol use in Minnesota is estimated at a minimum of $216 per year'. However, per-capita alcohol tax revenues in Minnesota in 1999 were only $12.31"'7z ■ Minnesota's alcohol excise tax rate is not indexed to inflation; the last time the rate was increased was in 198T`. Consequently, the effective excise tax rate has been decreasing over time. ■ Increased alcohol taxes will be paid by drinkers in proportion to the amount of alcohol they consume: ► For the more than one-third (36%) of county adults aged 21 and older who are not current alcohol drinkers°, a tax increase will hardly be noticed. 29