Perham liquor store gets solar panels, city cost falls to $3,843

Solar panels were being installed at Landmark Liquors in Perham, and the city-owned store’s $106,439 project had been pared down to just $3,843 out of pocket after rebates and incentives. For a municipal liquor store that helps finance city operations, that is a substantial cost break, not just a routine energy upgrade.

Landmark Liquors sits at 913 Market Street, where the City of Perham says profits are poured back into the community. The store is managed by Chris Arvidson, and the building’s prominent location makes the project highly visible along the Highway 10 corridor. The installation gives the city a chance to lower one of its ongoing operating expenses while keeping more revenue available for local uses.

The project had been in motion for months before the panels went up. City of Perham liquor committee agenda materials posted Jan. 29 included a Solar Update, and Perham City Council minutes from Aug. 11 listed Ben Holsen among attendees. That timeline shows the work was not a last-minute decision, but part of a longer effort to modernize a city asset with outside incentives helping cover most of the bill.

The savings matter because Landmark Liquors has long been one of Perham’s most important revenue engines. In 2023, the store had contributed about $4.68 million to city coffers since 1995, including a transfer of $314,050 for 2022. That earlier reporting also said Perham’s 2023 tax rate would have been about 60.5% without liquor-store transfers, compared with 50.7% with them, a gap of roughly 10 percentage points.

The store’s finances have also shaped the city’s infrastructure decisions. Landmark Liquors moved in 2008 from the lower level of City Hall to a new building visible from Highway 10, a project that cost just shy of $1 million and is now paid off. With that debt behind it and solar panels now going up, Perham is trying to squeeze more value out of a public business that already plays an outsized role in the city’s budget.