PEORIA City leaders are looking to help businesses hurt by COVID-19 restrictions by cutting some of their costs associated with liquor license and video-gaming permits.
Taverns and eateries have been battered by the mitigations, which have barred in-person service for months at a time. And even when it was allowed, the seating capacity inside was limited.
So, City Hall is proposing changes to the liquor license renewals. But the key tenet is that only those who abide by the COVID-19 restrictions currently in place are allowed to benefit from the plan. If a license holder who pays a discounted license fees is later found guilty by a state or hearing officer of Covid mitigation measures, the license holder will be required to pay the balance of the full license rate, reads a memo sent last week to council members who plan to vote on the plan as well as the video-gaming license renewal at their meeting Tuesday.