The creation of a winery business improvement district would add a 1.5% tax on purchases at Lodi area wineries.
LODI, Calif. — Weighing down vines across San Joaquin County, grapes are nearly ready for harvest—and ripening alongside them is a debate over a new tax.
Stuart Spencer, director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission, says the proposal to form a “winery business improvement district” would add a 1.5% assessment on sales at area wineries.
“We’re proposing a 1.5% assessment on the sale of wine, so for every $100 of wine purchases, direct by consumers, there would be $1.50 added to that that would go into the organization for doing and promoting our community,” Spencer said. “We’ve spent three years looking at this and doing outreach in our winery community, and kind of tweaked it as we went to make sure it addressed the concerns that were being raised by our vintner community so that everybody felt heard and the program serves the greater good of our community.”
The district would be modeled after those used by other businesses and travel destinations. At least four other regions in California utilize a winery business improvement district.
The plan, developed by Spencer’s team at the Lodi Winegrape Commission, aims to boost marketing and events for local wineries.
The effort began in November 2022, when San Joaquin County supervisors approved an agreement with an advisory firm to conduct a feasibility study.
If established, the district could generate approximately $630,000 annually, overseen by a nonprofit, according to county documents.
After county supervisors give approval, it would still need a final public hearing and the consent of the cities of Lodi, Stockton, Elk Grove, as well as Sacramento County. If approved on schedule, funds could come in as soon as February. The district would remain in place for five years and could be extended or dissolved after that.
Spencer says the creation of the district could help prop up the local industry, which has struggled with a downturn in recent years.
“If we want people to come to Lodi and taste our wines, and enjoy our wines and dine in our restaurants, we need to have some funds in order to promote it and make them aware of what’s going on here and this is primarily what we’re looking to do,” said Spencer. “While we love the support of our locals and it’s critical to it, if we are going to continue to grow and be sustainable and prosperous, we are going to need to broaden our customer base.”
According to Spencer, nearly 68% of wineries are on board, above the 50% plus one threshold needed for the proposal to advance to San Joaquin County supervisors.
“We’re all feeding off the same pool of visitors in California who are coming in. To reach out beyond our spaces and our traditional customer bases, you have to actually do broad media marketing, things that are bigger ideas that reach out deeper into the market, and to do that, you can’t do it with just grassroots. You can only get so far. You actually need a budget,” said Jeremy Trettevik, owner of Jeremy Wine Company. “A rising tide raises all boats.”
But not everyone is on board. Ted Woodruff, owner of M2 Wines, says he doesn’t want to pass extra costs to customers.
“To get each person to come here and they look at their tab and say, ‘You said it was going to be $45… what is this other ten cents for the bottle and what is this 1.5% for your advertisement?’ That is not fair to them to pay for our advertisements, and it’s not fair for us to be forced into doing it,” said Woodruff. “l would just like to see it go away and figure out, totally, something else different. Stuart is a very articulate and very intelligent man. I am sure he can think of some way to pull us together.”
During a Tuesday San Joaquin County Supervisors meeting, representatives from other wineries also spoke out against the proposal.
“I’m opposed to this,” said Ruby of Viaggio Estates and Winery. “We do a better job of marketing on our own through social media, all the platforms. I have people who come in and say, ‘Hey, we never knew you guys existed here.’ I mean, I don’t see any billboards on I-5 or 99 about Lodi Wine.”
Some proponents of the new plan say that the Lodi Winegrape Commission, which currently runs marketing for the region, is influenced more by winegrape growers, as opposed to the wineries that call the region home.
Despite the debate among winery owners, visitors would ultimately bear the cost of the tax.
Sean Brown, visiting from the Bay Area, says he’d still make frequent visits.
“1.5% is not that much. We love coming to this place, actually, so yeah, we would still support,” said Brown. “Hopefully, it grows because customer service is good. It still has the small-town atmosphere. The prices are good. It’s not that far away… It just makes sense.”
Lodi wine taster Kathy Schipper agrees.
“The proposal makes sense. It supports local businesses. It’s not a big price to pay. You’re already out having fun. It’s a small fee for doing some good stuff,” said Schipper. “By the time you’re done tasting, you wouldn’t even know you spent it anyway.”
As the debate ripens like the incoming harvest, the decision now rests with San Joaquin County Supervisors. A meeting is set for Sept. 9.
“Standing still and doing nothing is not going to help us,” Spencer said. “We need to get our message out there. We believe this is the best mechanism to do that.”
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