Brookshires and Wal Mart contracted with Texas Petition Services of Buda, Texas to secure enough petition signatures to trigger a local option alcohol vote within the City of Ruston. Mr. John Hatch of TPS noted that the City of Ruston could be expected to garner an additional $2.5 million in sales taxes if alcohol sales were expanded. He explained that this number was based on one of their previous efforts in Pineville. This estimate was used to encourage residents to sign the petition.
City of Ruston officials now concede that this number is wrong and the actual number is likely around $1.5 million. However, they are not able to estimate what the increased alcohol sales numbers might be.
The City of Ruston receives 2.5% of collected sales taxes. If we were to assume the increase in alcohol sales to be $2 million (likely a very generous estimate), the city would receive $50,000 from those sales. Note that it would take $40 million in additional alcohol sales in order for the city to receive $1 million worth of increased tax income!
The previous Restaurant Referendum in 2002 grew from a groundswell of local support and Propositions 1, 2 & 5 are legal in the City of Ruston at this time. This is in stark contrast to the current effort by Brookshires and Wal Mart, which is largely driven by paid consultants. What is to be gained by legalizing bars in downtown Ruston and full-blown alcohol sales in the grocery stores where our families shop? The only gain we can see is to these corporations’ bottom lines. We urge you to volt YES to maintain Propositions 1, 2 & 5 and NO for Propositions 3 & 4.
Sincerely,
Ben Humphries
Keep Ruston Ruston
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