There might be more places to buy a drink in Sullivan County after Nov. 3, if two liquor referendums on the ballot are approved by voters.
One question asks voters to decide whether to allow liquor-by-the-drink sales in rural parts of the county. Selling liquor “by the drink” means selling it by the glass at a licensed establishment such as a hotel or restaurant.
County Commissioner Hershel Glover, who represents Bluff City, sponsored the resolution that added the referendum to the ballot. He said his goal was simple: generate more money for the county through sales tax revenue, not property tax hikes.
“We can’t keep making property owners pay for everything that we’re providing in the county,” Glover said. “We have to find new ways of getting revenue instead of tax increases.”
If the referendum passes, Glover said restaurants and businesses in rural parts of the county can apply for liquor-by-the-drink licenses. The sales tax on the alcohol they sell would be collected by the state, he said.
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The state government would keep 50% of the income from such sales. The other half would flow back into the county, which would split it between the school system and the county general fund.
Only voters living in the areas outside Bristol and Kingsport can vote on the referendum.
Glover said he’s heard a “very positive” response to the referendum among people in the county, particularly restaurant and business owners.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from restaurants—from the Piney Flats area, from the boat docks around Boone Lake … [and] from boat docks and restaurants on South Holston Lake also,” he said. “They know it’s another way to stream revenue for them.”
County Commissioner Joyce Crosswhite, who represents Blountville and co-sponsored the resolution on the referendum, said it could help rural parts of the county capture revenue they’ve been missing out on.
“I know we’re in the Bible Belt, but people are going to drink if it’s available,” Crosswhite said. “You can drive 15 minutes up the road to Bristol and get a mixed drink if you want it. … We’re losing a lot of tax revenue by not having liquor-by-the-drink [sales].”
Both Glover and Crosswhite said that legalizing those sales throughout the county could also attract new businesses as well as benefit existing ones.
“We’re hoping and praying that if this passes ... maybe a chain restaurant would want to move [to] Sullivan County, or a hotel,” Crosswhite said. “That’s our hope.”
In addition to the liquor-by-the-drink measure, Bluff City residents will vote on a referendum that would let them decide whether to allow liquor stores inside the city limits. Currently, the city only allows beer to be sold by the drink or in packaged form, Bluff City Mayor Irene Wells said.
Wells said that if the latter referendum passes, it could generate more business for the city. And the liquor-by-the-drink referendum could generate more sales tax revenue along with attracting new restaurants, she said.
“We could use the sales tax,” Wells said.
She added that some residents have expressed interest in having more restaurant options in the city. But nicer restaurants have been reluctant to open in a city that won’t let them sell wine and other forms of liquor beyond beer, she said.
But Wells said that she’s heard both support for and opposition to loosening the city’s liquor laws.
“Because we were getting so many people talking to us [about those changes] and wanting us to do this and wanting us to do that, we wanted the citizens to make the choice, not the Board [of Mayor & Aldermen],” Wells said.
“I know that the citizens of Bluff City ... will make their choice, and we’ll see how it goes,” she added.