Cave City has narrowly voted to become a dry township, reports Arkansas Business and the Batesville Guard. Like a tee-totaling West Berlin, Cave City will be a dry island in wet Sharp County. The ballot issue, pushed by local churches, passed 500 to 436.
From the Arkansas Business report:
in wet Sharp County”We were getting about $200,000 (in sales taxes) last year,” Cave City Mayor Ron Burge said. “We’ll probably lose around $20,000 (per year).”
Burge said that despite the loss, the 24-hour police presence will remain. …
It’s not just the city sales tax that will be affected, the Batesville Guard Online reported.
Businesses will see loss in revenue as well, possibly affecting their employees.
“We got pretty much until the end of the year to sell what we got,” said Sam Johnson, manager of the Flash Market in Cave City. He also said the store will have to cut back on staff as well as hours for employees who remain.
Might be worth a roadtrip to get one last beer at Flash Market. The watermelons really are the sweetest in Cave City.