Fred Meyer owes Anchorage taxes, so its liquor licenses are on hold

Even a retail giant has to pay its taxes to keep the beer aisle open. The Anchorage Assembly voted Monday to freeze the liquor-license renewals at four Fred Meyer stores until the company pays what it owes the city — the same lever Anchorage uses on any business behind on taxes: no payment, no renewal.

The mechanism is simple: the state can't renew a liquor license until the local government signs off, so the Assembly's protest puts it on hold. Everything else about the renewals was in order — the unpaid taxes are the only snag.

"Taxes are owed to the Municipality of Anchorage," the municipal clerk said flatly. The stores are in Muldoon, near Dimond, on Abbott Road, and in Eagle River.

The fix is entirely Fred Meyer's: the moment it pays, the clerk can lift the protest without another Assembly vote.