Online Entry Option Adds Convenience for 2017 Drawing Entrants
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco opened the entry period for the 2017 Quota Beverage License Drawing, including a new option for easy electronic filing and electronic entry fee payment. The Division will accept quota license drawing entries for 45 days, ending at 5 p.m. on October 4, 2017.
Quota alcoholic beverage licenses authorize the holder of the license to sell beer, wine, and distilled spirits, either for package sales only or for consumption on the licensed premises, depending on the license series elected. The Florida Beverage Law limits the total number of quota alcoholic beverage licenses by county population estimates, authorizing the Division to issue no more than one license for every 7,500 residents within a county. Each year, the Division analyzes population data in Florida’s 67 counties, and based on the licenses available, opens the drawing process for a 45-day period beginning on the third Monday in August.
The 2017 drawing entry period will include 51 new quota alcoholic beverage licenses available for issuance in 26 counties, including: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, St. Lucie, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia.
For the 2017 drawing entry period, the Division has finalized an online entry option based on a pilot phase tested in 2016. Interested entrants are now able to file a drawing entry and pay the corresponding entry fee through the online portal from any location at any time during the 45-day entry period. The addition of an online entry option continues the Division’s goal of transitioning all licenses and permit applications to an online filing process, and it will expedite handling and processing of drawing entries prior to the license drawing.
For more information about the Quota Beverage License Drawing entry process, interested entrants are encouraged to contact a local Division of Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco District Office or visit https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/abt/index.html.
