Officials in Trenton, Ga., are in talks that may allow restaurants to serve beer and wine.
The town’s mayor says it’s an issue of economics — the city faces a shrinking property tax base and few options for growing its commercial tax income.
Beer and wine sales would provide an additional source of revenue and perhaps attract more restaurants, hotels and industry, Mayor Barton Harris said.
But even discussing the issue has proven controversial. City leaders haven’t scheduled a vote on the matter, but a recent called meeting to adopt the city’s property tax millage rate drew a large crowd of alcohol supporters and detractors.
Several churches brought members who opposed the ordinance and quoted the Bible.
“My husband was a pastor here for years. We saw what alcohol had done to families,” resident Betty Tate said Tuesday.
“Alcoholism starts with just one drink,” said Tate, who attended the meeting. “Many people say they can control their drinking, but generally speaking, they cannot, and they become alcoholics.”
During the meeting, city leaders kept the present millage rate, but Harris said the city must make cuts to get by with less tax revenue because of declining property values and a lack of commercial and sales tax revenue.
With no new tax income, beer and wine sales could help bridge the budget gap, he said.
For now, the City Commission just wants to hear public opinion on the matter and will discuss it again in September and perhaps October. No date has been set for a vote, he said.
“From what I’ve gathered on the street, it seems like people are riding the fence,” Harris said. “We’re just in debate and discussion.”
Any ordinance should require restaurants that serve alcohol to derive 70 percent of their income from food sales, Harris said.
Despite seeing positives, one commissioner said he’s keeping an open mind.
“Right now I’m still looking at everyone’s opinions,” Chuck Cannon said. “I’m trying to weigh everyone’s opinions.”
He said he understood points made by people such as Tate, but he’s also interested in attracting more restaurants, which might lure more industry and generate more tax revenue.
“No one wants to be the first to take a chance on a city,” Cannon said. “People want to jump on board. They don’t want to build the ship.”
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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