Jones County’s governing authority has agreed to call for a referendum on a question that local voters have never had the opportunity to answer.
The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously at its Feb.
6 meeting to approve a resolution calling for a referendum to permit the county to issue licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits in the unincorporated limits of the county. The question will be on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot.
It is believed there has never been a referendum in the county on the sale of liquor by any means, whether packaged to go or consumption on the premises. Voters in the City of Gray several years ago approved by a two-vote margin the sale of liquor by the drink, and several restaurants in the municipality sell mixed drinks now.
More recently, a referendum in the city for packaged sales of liquor failed by one vote.
The resolution approved by the commissioners was prepared by County Attorney Ashley Brodie and tracks the language of state law.
Jones County Administrator Jason Rizner said last week a change in the law and the realization revenue was leaving the county led to the commissioners’ decision.
“The law that allows counties to put the matter before the voters changed two or three years ago,” Rizner stated. “It used to be you had to get a certain percentage of the voters to sign a petition. Then they got rid of that requirement, and now the board can just pass a resolution saying they want the referendum.”
The administrator said potential revenue was a factor the commissioners considered.
“I think the board feels like there is a lot of revenue that goes outside the county,” Rizner noted. “I think their thought is, people are buying it somewhere. That revenue, and the taxes that come from it, is going to surrounding counties, so why not see if the voters want to have it here, so that, if that money is going to be spent, it could potentially be spent here.”
The county manager said there are figures available that estimate the loss of revenue for the county, pointing out that economic development forces in Atlanta have produced data — one referred to as the ‘leakage report’ — that show potential revenue in different consumer areas.
“The leakage is the amount that is ‘leaking out’ here and being spent in other counties,” Rizner explained.
One such report estimates that, in 2021, there was a consumer demand of just under $5.9 million for beer, wine, and liquor stores that was not available, revenue going to other counties. Of the counties immediately adjacent to Jones – Bibb, Monroe, Jasper, Putnam and Baldwin allow package sales of liquor – while Wilkinson and Twiggs do not.
Rizner anticipates some opposition to the idea.
“There’s still an anti-alcohol sentiment prevalent in a lot of places in Georgia,” he acknowledged, adding that he could see positions being taken on both sides.
“I could see a substantial portion of the population saying, ‘hey this is something where there is demand going elsewhere. And, I could see a portion saying, ‘hey, we are just opposed to that on religious grounds.’” District 1 and Commission Vice-Chairman Sam Kitchens said the packaged sales issue had been mentioned briefly at times in the past, but when the City of Gray’s effort failed by one vote, the subject came to the forefront again.
“I think that kind of brought it up a little more,” he stated, adding that District 4 Commissioner Daylon Martin had talked about packaged sales on more than one occasion before then. “I think the City of Gray’s vote has reinvigorated the discussion.”
Kitchens recalled Martin asking Brodie questions last year regarding the referendum process. She gave Martin the requested information, and he brought it up again at a board meeting, Kitchens said, asking that the commissioners agree to calling a referendum.
“I think at that time I questioned him clearly, that we’re voting to let the voters decide. We’re not voting for package sales,” Kitchens stated. “I would be in favor of putting it on the ballot because it’s the people’s right to choose that.”
Kitchens is not sure if there will be any organized opposition to the proposal, but he believes there will be those against it.
“I just think you’ll have some opposition, some of the religious groups, the church folks,” he observed. “I don’t know about any outside opposition.
“I’m sure there will be some social media campaigns, maybe some opinions, like letters to the editor, opinions to the paper,” he added. “But, organized? I don’t think so, other than the churches maybe.”
Martin said Jones County has been losing needed revenue for years.
“We have for years missed the opportunity to collect taxes on packaged sales that our neighboring counties have enjoyed and financially benefited from our citizens’ purchases at the county line and beyond,” he said this past Monday morning.”
He pointed out that the ‘leakage report’ cited by Rizner illustrates that the county loses millions of dollars in revenue.
“While I respect everyone’s freedom of choice to indulge in alcohol consumption,” Martin noted, “it should be our choice as citizens to sell the products and collect the tax revenue to improve our roads and infrastructure.”
