Number of Grafton liquor licenses still on the table

By Editor | July 23, 2025 |

By Steven Spencer

Grafton City Council left ordinance 782 on the table following their Tuesday, July 15, meeting.

The ordinance would increase the number of Class A liquor licenses from 17 to 18 and was tabled at the last regular council meeting on June 17.

Council made a motion to take the item off the table last week, but the motion failed, so it remains on the table for later discussion.

Increasing the number of liquor licenses was brought up at the June meeting when Gogo-May’s Sundae Scoop requested a liquor license so they can add alcohol infused ice cream and snow cone treats to their menu.

During that meeting, the business owners stated that their goal was not to create any kind of cocktail lounge or bar but just expand their offerings to give their customers what they’ve been requesting.

At the June meeting, Mayor Mike Morrow said if there were any additional licenses available it would be a different discussion, rather than an ordinance to increase the number of licenses. He also said the business meets the criteria and requirements to receive a liquor license.

However, the lack of indoor seating and the ability to have gambling machines with a Class A liquor license were concerns raised by the council.

The council decided to table the item at the June meeting and held a special meeting on Thursday, July 10, to discuss liquor license requirements and local ordinances in more detail.

At the special meeting, council members said there was nothing setting a specific limit to the number of Class A liquor licenses. Mayor Morrow said that for some time the number was held around 12, but as the city grew the number of licenses increased to 14 then 17.

During that meeting, it was stated that there is no restriction to the number of Class A licenses, and the decision to extend the number falls on the city council. However, certain criteria must be met.

It was stated that there are no specific seating requirements, but mechanisms must be in place to control what is being served, due to an ordinance that prohibits Class A owners from selling to-go cups and allowing patrons to knowingly leave the premises with open containers.

In other business, City Council approved Ordinance 781 implementing a Municipal Grocery Retailer’s Occupation Tax and Municipal Grocery Service Occupation Tax at the Tuesday, July 15, meeting.

“This is not a new tax,” Mayor Morrow said. “The state of Illinois rescinded the one percent grocery tax. What that basically meant was that they collected the one percent tax at the state and they distributed it to all the cities, and that’s going to take effect in July of next year.”

Mayor Morrow said that all although the city doesn’t have a grocery store, there are other packaged items at the gas station and other businesses that would apply to the one percent tax.

“It will keep this one percent sales tax in place and the state will continue to send that back down to us,” Mayor Morrow said of the ordinance.

Mayor Morrow added that if the council had not passed the ordinance, the city would lose the ability to apply the tax if a grocery store were to come to the city.

“It’s not a new tax. It’s just making sure that we can maintain the tax as it comes in to help support the city,” Mayor Morrow said.

The motion passed with one no vote and one council member absent.

The Grafton City Council will meet again on Tuesday, Aug. 19.