Rock Island County board members voted Tuesday to waive liquor license renewal fees for all businesses in unincorporated county areas that serve alcohol, excluding 24-hour businesses that hold Class D liquor licenses.

County Administrator Jim Snider said the waiver is one way the county could help businesses impacted by the economic fallout of the the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We wanted to do our part as much as we could," Snider said. "This applies to bars, Pinnacle Country Club, and other businesses. We don't have that many ways to waive these types of fees."

Snider said the waiver will apply to 16 businesses in unincorporated Rock Island County that would have paid $24,000 in fees to the county in 2021. The waiver does not apply to downtown Rock Island District bars or Moline businesses, as they are within municipal jurisdictions. 

"In recognizing the struggles that our area businesses have faced over the last year, due to COVID-19 and state mitigation efforts, we wanted to do what we could to assist these small businesses in unincorporated Rock Island County, whose licenses fall under the county’s jurisdiction," said Rock Island County Chairman Richard "Quijas" Brunk in a release.