Spotlight: Florida's Liquor License Lottery
The Spotlight series provides helpful information about important business and professional licenses issued by the State of Florida. This installation provides information on Florida’s liquor license lottery.
In a world of boring regulations, the process by which the state issues newly-available (and valuable!) liquor licenses is a fascinating and fun anomaly. As you may know, quota licenses allow a limited number of Florida businesses to sell liquor in addition to beer and wine. The annual Quota Lottery is Florida’s mechanism to distribute unissued quota licenses, which can be then be used or resold for a profit.
There is generally one quota license for every 7,500 residents of a county, and our continued growth is creating more liquor licenses under Florida Law. The limited supply makes these licenses valuable - they can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in some counties. The 45 day entry period begins in August. The firm’s full liquor license lottery resource is available at www.quotalottery.com.
The following primer on the drawing process is was originally published by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
Overview: The Quota Alcoholic Beverage License Drawing is held pursuant to sections 561.19(2)(a) and 561.20(1), F.S., and Rule 61A-5.0105 F.A.C. The number of licenses awarded per county for the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License Drawing is determined by using the Florida Estimate of Population as published by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. In most counties, a quota license is awarded when the county's population increases by 7,500 residents. However, five counties (Duval, Lake, Leon, Nassau, Polk) have special acts that set different population increases for awarding a quota license. The special acts specify population increase thresholds of 4,000 residents in Polk, 7,500 residents in Nassau, and 5,000 residents in Duval, Lake, and Leon.
Quota Drawing Entry Period
Notice: A Notice is published in the Florida Administrative Register and on the Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco's website to notify all interested persons of the opening of the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License Drawing entry period and the counties available. Beginning each year on the third Monday in August, the Division accepts Quota Alcoholic Beverage License Drawing Entry Forms for 45 days.
Entry Forms: Completed entry forms are entered into the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License database after being reviewed by Division staff. If an entry form is determined to be deficient, a deficiency letter is issued to the applicant providing that the applicant has 14 days to supply the additional information. If the applicant does not respond by the 14-day deadline, the entry form is disapproved. However, pursuant to Chapter 120, F.S., the applicant of a disapproved entry form is given 21 days to request a hearing to dispute material facts. Entry forms are returned to the applicant along with their payment if the form is received after the noticed deadline or if seeking a license for a county where licenses are not available for the applicable drawing.
Quota License Drawing
Notice: After all eligible entry forms have been entered in the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License database, and hearing requests have been addressed, a notice is published in the Florida Administrative Register and on the Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco's website to notify all interested persons of the official date of the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License Drawing.
Pre-Drawing: A law enforcement officer is scheduled to be present at the drawing to verify the actual seed numbers selected to start the Quota License computer program. The day before the drawing, the Quota Alcoholic Beverage License computer is moved from Licensing to the main conference room and a pre-quota drawing is conducted to ensure that all of the pre-drawing checks are clear and that the program is running properly. The morning of the drawing, a list of the counties available indicating the number of applicants per county and a list of applicants by name per county are placed on the table for public viewing.
Drawing: To start the drawing, ten numbered balls are placed into a ball machine. From the machine, nine balls will be randomly selected to represent the nine-digit seed number needed to start the Quota License computer program. Each number is verified by the law enforcement officer before being entered into the computer by the Bureau of Auditing staff. After the seed numbers are entered, the Quota License computer program is initiated to run the final drawing.
Winners: The Quota Alcoholic Beverage License computer program produces a list of winners. The winners list is compared to the county list to ensure that the application number, log number and name of each winner match the information in the Quota License database. After verifying the information is correct, the winners list is released to the general public. A copy of the winners list is also posted on the Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco's website. Certified letters are mailed to the winners within five days of completing the drawing. The certified letters advises the winners of the additional requirements necessary for the issuance of the quota license. Winners must complete and file an application within 45 days.