Letter to the Editor

We all read this week’s Leader, and city sales tax revenue is down again. And still we hear arguments that people make against the Beer-Wine Proposition, and how as a community, especially our children, won’t benefit. That’s wrong on two fronts. First, grocery stores lose $3 in general sales for every $1 lost in beer and wine sales – which can be as much as $25,000 to $100,000 per week in lost sales, and thousands lost in local sales tax revenue. Our law enforcement, roads, parks and library are funded by the city who either pays for these services with sales tax, or property tax revenues. In fact, studies show that Graham loses more than $225,000 a year in local sales tax revenues and since we voted to stay dry in 2012, we’ve lost over $1.1 million dollars in local tax revenue. How many tax increases could have been avoided with an additional $1,125,000 – or new police officers hired. Now factor in the property tax revenues. Grocery stores pay property tax on the building and the inventory and both the city and school district get property tax revenues. So when you say our kids don’t benefit, you clearly aren’t looking to how much revenue we lose that could fund city services and property tax revenues for our schools. Our kids benefit and so do taxpayers. Graham residents and people who visit our town and lakes, already drink it here, I’m voting “FOR” the beer wine proposition so they can buy it here. Prohibition ended in 1933 because even the government was smart enough to realize there was money to be made. Cliff Brightman Graham