The money generated by the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city of Athens is currently used to repay debt and to build the new high school.

Approximately $700,000 is generated each year through the sale of alcohol, City Clerk Annette Barnes Threet said.

In fiscal 2016, the city generated $730,000.

The city not only receives the sales tax consumers pay when they buy a six-pack of beer, a bottle of wine or a glass of whiskey, but also the privilege license and alcohol license application fees alcohol sellers pay in order to sell the beverages, she said.

Of the approximately $700,000 generated each year, about $675,000 represents alcohol taxes, with about $30,000 coming from privilege license and alcohol license application fees, Barnes said.

Although some residents are still not pleased the city voted to legalize alcohol sales in the city limits in 2003, they may feel better knowing the money is being put to good use.

Half the sales tax portion of the money generated goes to city schools and the other half stays with the city, Barnes said.

For the next 30 years, the city schools’ portion of the alcohol sales tax — roughly $350,000 — is committed to pay down the debt on the new $55 million high school currently under construction off U.S. 31, said Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay.

Sunday sales

When Athens residents voted in 2003 to legalize the sale of alcohol in the city limits, they disallowed sales on Sundays.

The current City Council is now considering Sunday sales. They have asked the members of the local legislative delegation — those state lawmakers who represent all or part of Athens and Limestone County — to ask the full Legislature to let the City Council decide whether to legalize Sunday sales. The local delegation has agreed to do so. If permission is granted, council members, rather than the voters, would decide whether to legalize Sunday sales in the city. The council could receive permission as early as May or June.

Reasons

There are several reasons the council is contemplating Sunday sales.

Mayor Ronnie Marks has said Sunday sales could boost alcohol revenue by as much as 20 percent, which is about $140,000 a year based on the city’s roughly $700,000 in annual alcohol sales tax collections.

In addition to believing legal Sunday sales will generate more sales tax for the city and schools, some city officials believe it will give Athens a better chance of attracting the kind of restaurants they say they want in the city. It might also help keep residents from wanting to annex into another city, which means a loss of tax dollars.

The reason the council is considering a direct vote on the matter rather than letting voters decide lies in recent history.

The 2003 vote caused some division among voters, though that occurs with every voted upon issue.

A recent effort to raise the property tax for schools failed when voters defeated the proposed measure. Also, a Limestone County man’s more than two-year effort to mount enough signatures to call for a vote on legalizing alcohol sales in Limestone County recently failed.