Tallassee Sunday Alcohol Sales Vote Pushed to 2016
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November elections are just over a week away, but one proposal Tallassee residents expected to vote on won’t appear on the ballot.For years, people in Tallassee have debated about whether to allow the sell of alcohol in city limits on Sundays. Earlier this year, the state legislature decided to leave that up to residents, approving a bill to let people in the city vote on what they want.
Many businesses say not being able to sell alcohol can be bad for business, especially when stores just over the county line can.
“It’s a situation where you’re basically telling them where they can go and get it, so you’re basically referring them to your competitor. you don’t really have a choice, because you don’t want to say, no we don’t do it, and have them walk out the door, so you’re pretty much leading them to your competitors,” Kris Kephart of Five Points Gas Station told us in April, shortly after the legislature passed the bill.
However, now residents have to wait at least two years if they want to change anything. It’s not the city’s choice. According to local officials, it’s because of language in the bill legislators passed. It states the vote will be held during “the city’s next general election.” City officials say the Secretary of State’s Office has ruled that’s not this November. It’s August 2016-the city’s next municipal elections.
Some residents tell us they aren’t happy the vote must be pushed back because of a legal technicality.
“I’d vote for it now and if there’s any other discrepancies about it, we can pick it up later,” Tallassee resident Phillip Wood said.
The city clerk’s office says the city won’t lose any money holding the vote in 2016, because the proposal can be printed along with the ballots holding candidates for local elections.
