Lumberton Beer Sales

The following article was taken from the Hattiesburg American. There is so much talk about the lack of revenue for the City of Lumberton. When will this city follow suit like other small municipalities in the State of Mississippi, and pass an ordinance for the sale of beer.

IT CAME AS SOMETHING of a mild surprise that voters in Ellisville this week approved the legal sale of beer, going from a dry city to a wet city. It was the first time the town of almost 4,000 had supported a referendum to allow beer sales. A similar referendum in 1988 was rejected.




Supporters believe allowing restaurants to sell beer will attract more name-brand restaurants to the town that's home to Jones County Junior College. That will mean more sales tax revenue for the city, they claim.
Opponents say it will destroy Ellisville's small-town atmosphere and bring other alcohol-related problems.
Starkville voters last month approved the sale of wine and liquor on Sundays. Tupelo recently approved the Sunday sale of beer and light wine in restaurants and stores. In June, voters in the Rankin County town of Flowood supported a referendum that allows the sale of liquor by the glass in specified restaurants. Restaurant owners say it will be a boon to their business and help the city's coffers.
Mississippi has had an interesting alcohol-related history. It was the first state in the union to ratify the 18th Amendment that began Prohibition. In 1966 it was the last state to ratify the 21st amendment that ended Prohibition.
During Prohibition, though, the Legislature, trying to appease the drinkers and the teetotalers, levied a black market tax on liquor. In much of the state, alcohol was available if one knew where to look for it.
In 1966 the Legislature passed a local-option law that allowed each county and municipality to decide on the possession or sale of alcohol. It resulted in a hodgepodge of liquor laws. For example, Lamar County is a dry county. But that part of Lamar County that is in the Hattiesburg city limits is wet. In Jones County, alcohol sales are legal in Laurel and Ellisville, but not in unincorporated parts of the county.
One of our favorite alcohol law stories came several years ago when the then-mayor of of a small south Mississippi town ordered vanilla extract and other products removed from grocery shelves because of their alcohol content. That didn't go over well with those who needed vanilla extract for their cakes and pies and the ban was soon rescinded.
After the state ended Prohibition, the Legislature put the state in the liquor business. The Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a division of the Mississippi Tax Commission, serves as the state's wholesaler of spirits and wines - using a 211,000-square-foot warehouse in Madison County. The state set a 27.5 percent markup on products shipped by the warehouse.
The local-option law probably makes as much sense as any law in Mississippi. It allows the residents of each county and city to make their own decision about alcohol.
But it can certainly be confusing.