The city of Durango plans to implement a $250 late filing fee for liquor license renewals because late renewals have become a burden to the city clerk’s office.
Dana DeBolt, deputy clerk in licensing for the city clerk’s office, said at a City Council meeting last week license renewal applications cause processing, compliance and legal challenges for license holders as well as the clerk’s office.
Liquor license holders have 45 days before the expiration of their license to renew it. She said 17.5% of 130 liquor license holders in the city are currently out of compliance, and the city clerk’s office expects about 24 liquor licenses to be submitted past the city’s 45-day deadline by the year’s end.
“This will disrupt our office’s workflow, forcing staff to spend more time responding to late filings rather than focusing on applications that were submitted on time,” she said.
Liquor license renewals take at a minimum of one week to a month to process, requiring cross-departmental verification with the city’s finance department, Durango Police Department and La Plata County Health Department. After verifications, the city clerk’s office submits the application and fees to the state.
“When there isn’t enough time to process a renewal, applications can stall, creating a backlog and straining staff capacity and resources,” DeBolt said.
Late applications take clerk’s time away from performing compliance checks and addressing paperwork issues before a licensee’s license expires, which puts a licensee’s ability to operate legally without interruption at risk, she said.
“They influence how our office prioritizes operations, often shifting focus toward reacting to noncompliant businesses rather than supporting those that follow the rules,” she said. “This reactive work creates unplanned spikes in our attention and workload.”
The city clerk’s office consulted with clerks from Windsor and Sterling, where late renewal fees of $500 and $250, respectively, were imposed. The clerks also required applications to be filled out completely before they would be accepted.
DeBolt said clerks from the other Colorado municipalities had an increase in timely submissions with the addition of late fees and requiring completed applications.
“Making this change creates a financial incentive for proactive renewal submissions while also supporting businesses and maintaining year-round compliance. This will also reduce the clerk’s office’s work spikes and unplanned, reactive work,” she said.
The new late fees are scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1. DeBolt said the clerk’s office will begin outlining the late fees in courtesy notices to businesses this spring.
City Council also approved an ordinance requiring retail liquor stores to acquire liquor service affidavits, which demonstrate businesses agree to have a person on duty during regular hours who has completed liquor service training.
DeBolt said establishments such as bars, hotels and restaurants are already required to file liquor service affidavits at the time of applying for a liquor license. Several incidents over the past year in which City Council, acting as the city’s liquor licensing authority, had to issue warnings or revoke a licensee’s license due.
The 6th Street Liquor license was suspended pending sale in November, for example, after a second offense of a co-owner having been drinking or drunk on the job.
“We’ve had several incidents in compliance hearings this past year, triggering the realization that all license types should be included in this requirement,” she said. “The clerk’s office believes doing so will enhance public safety as well as implementing an extra level of accountability for alcohol service within the community.”
She said most retail liquor stores voluntarily comply with the standards the ordinance would make mandatory.
Lastly, City Council approved a revision of city code to move liquor licensing rules of procedure from Chapter 13, Licenses and Business Regulations, to Chapter 3, Alcohol, after they were mistakenly entered into the wrong section last year.
City Council will have a final reading of the proposed ordinances at its May 5 regular meeting.
cburney@durangoherald.com
