If slumping tax collections on beer, wine and liquor are any indication, Connecticut residents are becoming teetotalers.
We spent about $1 million less on booze this year than we did a year ago. The state's year-to-date excise tax collections were down $925,000 for 2008 heading into November compared with 2007. November's total was $1.2 million less than the previous year's.
The numbers would have been even more grim, but a September boost made it the only month in 2008 in which excise tax income exceeded that of the previous year, officials said.
State officials will release the December collections total later this month.
Overall, slightly more than $15 million has been collected since the state's new budget year started July 1. Wholesalers have paid more than $40 million annually in excise taxes since 1999.
