Burr Ridge needs to extend bar hours, pass restaurant tax

• Reprints

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:39AM

Burr Ridge has two proposals in the works that will affect diners and restaurants in the village.

Community leaders are rightfully looking at allowing establishments selling liquor to be open until 1 a.m. Thursdays and 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Village officials are also looking at establishing a restaurant tax, which will not be initially popular with eateries, but shouldn’t keep anyone from dining in Burr Ridge.

Because the village has no stand-alone bars, it is hard to imagine many establishments opting for a regular 1 or 2 a.m. closing time. But the opportunity would exist, if getting final board approval, for a restaurant to stay open later on New Year’s Eve and other special occasions. As Burr Ridge becomes more of a dining destination, a standardized closing time for liquor-selling establishments makes sense. Current closing times are all over the board. Alcohol servers in Village Center have a midnight closing time, while liquor-licensed establishments outside the Village Center have to close at 10 p.m. Adding to the disparity is the fact that some establishments lobbied the village and got special use permits to stay open later.

Allowing establishments in one part of town to stay open longer than another part of the village simply is not fair. All establishments should be on a level playing field. Many establishments may not opt to extend their bar hours, but that should be their choice. The village’s 10 liquor-selling eateries should not have their closing time determined by geography.

The village is being progressive with the extension of liquor license hours. It leaves room for an establishment such as Pinstripes, an upscale dining and entertainment venue with bowling and bocci, which could move into nearby Oak Brook, to move into town. Such an establishment would likely laugh and look elsewhere with a 10 p.m. closing time. As the village continues to draw top restaurants, options must remain open. A place like Pinstripes or a business catering to weddings and banquets couldn’t get by with a 10 p.m. liquor cut-off. Village officials should approve the extended liquor hours.

When businesses get a chance to expand their hours, they also need to keep the village in the loop on their plans. If an establishment is going to be open later for a special occasion, it needs to let the village know so police can be alert to goings on at the eatery.

Another pending restaurant issue is a proposed restaurant sales tax. If neighboring communities like Hinsdale and Willowbrook didn’t already have this tax in place, we would be hard-pressed to give it our blessing when other options are available. But with a restaurant tax already in place in those towns and Burr Ridge in need of money, the tax is something that should be adopted.

No one is going to stop dining in Burr Ridge because of a 1 percent restaurant sales tax. No one is going to balk because a $100 food bill is now $101.

The village has gone through cost-cutting measures for the past three years. It simply needs more money and the restaurant tax can provide needed funds for the general fund coffers.

The village has said it will give one-quarter or one-third of the restaurant tax funds back to a still-to-be-established village restaurant association for advertising Burr Ridge restaurants. That association and that revenue can pay huge dividends as the village continues to push itself as an entertainment destination. Officials think the tax could raise $200,000 annually for the village, $50,000 of which would go back to the restaurant association.

There is still room for a quarter-cent increase in the village sales tax. Residents passed a 1.5 percent village sales tax via referendum, but the village only instituted a 1.25 percent sales tax. Should more money be needed, the village should look at instituting that other quarter-cent. The overall sales tax is equitable in that it hits all consumers and businesses equally.