Manitobans will pay an extra $3.90 for a 24-pack of beer Friday, a tax hike finalized just Thursday.

“We were going to announce all the price increases when we knew what the prices would be,” said Karen Hiebert, spokeswoman for the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission. “Price increases as they affect the consumer were posted on our website today.”

Brands such as Budweiser and Molson Canadian will increase in price by $2 per 12-pack, from $21.75 to $23.75, and from $36.92 to $40.82 for a 24-pack, a hike of $3.90.

The MLCC will get 80 cents of that increase; the rest goes to suppliers’ costs.

That didn’t stop Tory MLCC critic Cliff Cullen from slamming the seemingly last-minute nature of the increase.

“The NDP can’t bear to face the public and be honest about their intent, so they will do it in the dark of night,” he said. “The NDP may believe Manitobans won’t notice this attempt to deceive, but they have been caught beer-handed.”

The tax hike for spirits, $0.622 per litre — 47 cents per 750 mL bottle — won’t take place until April 1.

The hikes will generate $2 million in provincial taxes.

When news that a hike was coming emerged in February, the MLCC downplayed the rumour of a $4 for a 24-pack of beer.

But Hiebert said the 80-cent beer tax increase had always been planned for this spring.

“There was no change in the plan,” she said.

MLCC’s surcharge adjustment is timed to match yearly increases in the booze prices set by suppliers, based on things like freight costs, the Consumer Price Index and exchange rates.

“Those things are regular, standard increases that always happen, but the MLCC has not initiated its own increase on beer and spirits since March 2010 and prior to that the only other time was in 2004,” Hiebert previously told the Winnipeg Sun.

The tax affects 95% of the beer available in Manitoba stores, but not Half Pints. Last year the province actually decreased the markup applied to microbrewery beers.

“The province wanted more tax revenue based on beer, so it would be contradictory for them to increase the tax on the small guys,” says Half Pints CEO Nicole Barry.

Supply costs have been going up though, so she’s not ruling out a price increase in future.

The tax break is a big help for the microbrewery, which has different costs of scale than the big guys, Barry notes.

“Absolutely it helps. Any type of break that we can get is huge,” says Barry. “It makes for a sustainable brewery.”

tessa.vanderhart@sunmedia.ca

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