What are the real liquor store figures?

Now that the Custer Municipal Liquor Store has once again made like the mythical Phoenix and risen from the ashes, Custer City voters are going to need some hard data on the liquor store before deciding its fate in an election come June. For months, different figures have been thrown out regarding how much the liquor store does—or does not make.

Some members of the city council contend the liquor store makes little to no money. Others contend it makes $30,000 to $50,000 a year. Mayor Harold Stickney is firmly in the camp that contends the liquor store is making money for the city. Others, like alderman Ed Starr, still contend the city would make more money by getting out of the liquor store business and eliminating the costs associated with it, while still collecting money from the license fees, sales tax and possible leasing or sale of the land the store sits on.

One way or another, the issue will finally be resolved through an election in June. Between now and then, however, city residents need to do their homework on the pros and cons of a city-run municipal store. The arguments for and against the store and the city being in the alcohol sales business at all, have been made ad nauseum. We believe there are valid points on both sides of the argument. What we would like to see is one document that tells all the residents exactly how much is spent at the liquor store, and how much it brings in. No creative accounting. No he said, she said. Just hard, solid empirical data that can help the voters form an informed decision with which to cast their ballot come June. We don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Is this a pipe dream? It shouldn’t be. Perhaps the city should consider having an independent auditor focus on the liquor store numbers from the past several years and come up with some data for both the city and voters to study. The city’s financial audit for 2008 is finally finished, and the audit for 2009 should not be far behind. Perhaps these reports will shed more light on the liquor store, the liquor fund, and how it is affecting the city’s bottom line.

If the liquor store is truly hemorrhaging cash, as some say, then it’s a no-brainer to close it. However, if it is bringing $50,000 a year into the city coffers, it shouldn’t be such an easy decision. Then there is the question as to whether the city really could make more money, regardless of how much the store makes, by getting out of the business. Over the course of the next few months you will undoubtedly hear all of these arguments. It would be nice to be able to point to one set of numbers as the truth. Whether or not that will happen is anybody’s guess, but it’s our belief it’s the city’s job to present some factual data that the entire city—or the vast majority at the very least—can agree upon.