Five years ago, Clarke County made history by voting to go wet by legalizing the sale of beer, wine, and liquor in the county. There was a huge voter turnout, showing that over 60% of voters were in favor of going wet. The beer/wine measure passed with 2,804 in favor and 1,915 against, and the liquor measure passed with 2,675 in favor and 1,795 against.
One of the major concerns for some in the county was the effect that allowing alcohol sales would have on impaired driving and domestic disputes. Multiple ordinances were developed to assist with any possible problems that could arise. Five years later, the ordinances have proven to be effective, and law enforcement has not experienced more negative calls based on alcohol than they dealt with previously.
“We haven’t seen a difference since going wet,” informed Sheriff Todd Kemp. “We haven’t really seen a difference as far as DUIs, and the domestic violence calls have been the same. The big thing we’ve seen is we have more cans and cartons on the side of the road than we had before. I had thought we would pick up on all of it, but to my surprise things haven’t changed that much. We have one or two more deputies than we did prior, but the arrests have been the same. The county adopted an ordinance, and that really gave us something to work with.”
One of the major things that many in the community hoped for with the passage of alcohol sales was an increase in tax revenue for the county and municipalities. After speaking with the tax accessor, Hope Herrington, it would appear that the biggest difference the sales make are not in county or municipal taxes but revenue for the stores themselves.
“There is not a noticeable difference in the tax revenue generated,” explained Hope. “I think the most noticeable increase would be the sales tax generated by alcohol sales.”
To better explain the tax revenue from alcohol sales, Hope provided the following example:
Now if you say 30,000 dollars in inventory times the tax ratio of 15%
Equals 4500 then 4500 times the tax rate for the county of 49.65= 223.43
Times the city tax rate of 33.27 mils=149.72
Times the school tax rate of 56.25=253.13
While tax revenue may not have had such a huge impact from sales, stores in the area have definitely seen a difference since the county made the decision to go wet.
“It changed dramatically when we finally got beer in Clarke County,” proclaimed Jennifer Ruttley with the Archusa Mini Mart. “Now people don’t have to run and hide and look for it other places. They can just come in this store and grab it and go. You still have those customers that don’t want people to know and ask if we can tote it out to the car for them, and we do it. I can definitely see a difference in the last few years for the store.”
Some restaurants that elected to serve alcohol have also noticed a difference in business.
“The sales went up, and people like it because they don’t have to go out of town to have a drink with family and friends and be safe in town and on the road,” described Miguel Oregon, owner of Los Totopos. “I remember before we had alcohol, some people would not eat with us because we didn’t have it. They would get mad because they had to drive all the way to Meridian, and we are very glad that we can offer the alcohol and the profit stays local.”
Over the past five years, the biggest difference the county has seen has been sales for local businesses. Most people in the county are thrilled to know that there were no major negative repercussions to the decision, and hopefully businesses in the area can continue to benefit over the upcoming years.
