(1) The department shall review the volume of sales discount rate received by agents that have operated under a continuous franchise agreement for at least three years pursuant to the requirement of 16-2-101, MCA. Under 16-2-101, MCA, on July 1 of each year:

(a) agency liquor stores, with a sales volume of $560,000 or more based on their invoice dates in the previous fiscal year, will receive a volume of sales discount rate of 0.875 percent; and

(b) agency liquor stores, with a sales volume of less than $560,000 based on their invoice dates in the previous fiscal year, will receive a volume of sales discount rate of 1.5 percent.

(2) The department shall use an inflation factor to adjust the previous year's base to determine the new dollar volume of sales cutoff based on the top 25 liquor items (SKUs) with the highest quantity of cases sold in the previous calendar year. The posted price, excluding any temporary price reductions offered by the vendor, for the top 25 liquor items will be taken on January 1 and December 1 of the previous calendar year to determine the difference in the posted price for each item. This difference will be used to calculate a percentage increase or decrease for each item. The average percentages will be considered the inflation factor. This inflation factor may be positive or negative. This percentage is then multiplied by the previous year's volume of sales base.

(3) Copies of the volume of sales worksheet will be available by April 1 of each year. Copies may be obtained by contacting:

 

 

Department of Revenue

Liquor Control Division

Liquor Distribution Bureau

P.O. Box 1712

Helena, MT 59624-1712