South Windsor Nets $14K From Bottle Program

South Windsor collected $14,829.40 in Connecticut’s latest “Nickel per Nip” payout after 296,588 miniature liquor bottles were sold in town during the six months from October 2025 through March 2026. The figures were reported April 30 by Patch, citing Larry Cafero, executive director and general counsel of the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Connecticut, the trade group that oversees the surcharge program. (patch.com) State guidance says wholesalers collect a 5-cent fee on each nip sold to a package store, and the money is returned to the municipality where the store is located. The latest round also pushed the statewide total above $22 million over the program’s four-year run, according to Cafero’s figures reported by Patch. (portal.ct.gov) In the most recent six-month period alone, Connecticut cities and towns received about $2.4 million. ### Where did South Windsor’s $14,829.40 come from? South Windsor’s payment came from the sale of 296,588 nip bottles at liquor establishments in town between October 2025 and March 2026. At 5 cents per bottle, that sales volume produced the $14,829.40 municipal payout. Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection guidance says wholesalers must collect the surcharge and report total nip sales twice a year. (patch.com) Those reports are due on April 1 and October 1. ### What exactly is the “Nickel per Nip” program? Connecticut’s nip surcharge program took effect in October 2021, according to the figures cited in the Patch report. (patch.com) The system requires a 5-cent environmental fee on 50-milliliter liquor bottles, commonly called nips, with the proceeds sent back to municipalities. Larry Cafero said the program has worked in each six-month reporting period since it began. “Cities and towns are getting much-needed revenue for environmental protection purposes, and they’re putting the money to good use,” he said, according to Patch. (patch.com) ### What can towns use the money for? (portal.ct.gov) Patch reported that municipalities use the funds for environmental programs including community cleanups by nonprofit groups, street sweeper purchases, food composting efforts and recycling staff. The program is structured as a municipal revenue source tied directly to local sales. Cafero said the “true measure of success” is how municipalities choose to spend the money they receive. (patch.com) That description of the program’s impact was his characterization in comments reported by Patch. ### How does this fit into Connecticut’s broader bottle and redemption rules? (patch.com) Connecticut runs the nip surcharge separately from its broader bottle redemption law. The state’s bottle bill page says consumers pay a deposit on covered beverage containers and get that money back when empties are returned, while the nip surcharge is collected by wholesalers and distributed to towns based on sales. As of March and April 2026, Connecticut also updated parts of its bottle bill system under Public Act 26-2, including handling-fee changes affecting some redemption centers. (patch.com) Those changes do not alter the basic Department of Consumer Protection reporting schedule for nip sales shown on the state’s nip data page. ### When will the next South Windsor payout be determined? The next set of nip sales figures will be shaped by wholesaler reports due October 1, under the Department of Consumer Protection schedule. Those filings cover the next six-month reporting cycle and determine how much each municipality receives in a future distribution. (portal.ct.gov) Connecticut posts nip reporting information through the Department of Consumer Protection, and municipal payment records are also tracked through the Office of Policy and Management’s payments-to-municipalities database. Those are the state sources to watch for the next South Windsor disbursement. (portal.ct.gov) (portal.ct.gov)