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Residents and restaurant owners urge Texarkana board to preserve private-club alcohol permits
Summary
Several speakers, including Meredith Mills, told the board that removing private-club permits would force restaurants to buy only from wholesalers, harm local liquor stores, and shift tax revenue away from Texarkana. Mills cited Arkansas Code provisions allowing local private-club systems.
Meredith Mills, a local restaurant owner, told the Texarkana Board of Directors she opposes any change that would eliminate the city's private-club permit system and said it would "cause serious harm to our local liquor stores." Mills told the board she drew on her experience running a restaurant under a wholesale-only model and on state law she had reviewed.
Mills cited Arkansas statutory provisions and explained that the state's three-tier alcohol system permits cities to adopt private-club permits that let private clubs and restaurants buy from local licensed liquor stores. "If the city council were to ever vote to take away the private club system, it it would become illegal under the state law for any restaurant or bar to buy from a local liquor store," she said, warning that the result would be weekly wholesale deliveries, higher fees and slower restocking.
Mills framed the issue as an economic and tax concern for Texarkana, saying local liquor-store sales generate city sales tax and a 5 percent public club tax that would be lost under a wholesale-only model. "When restaurants and bars purchase from local liquor stores, Texarkana collects both the 5% public club tax and its share of city sales tax," Mills said. She argued wholesalers "do not collect local sales tax at the point of purchase, so the city loses that revenue stream as well."
Speakers from the public followed with similar points. One business owner said Arkansas cities including Fayetteville, Rogers, Little Rock and Hot Springs have approved systems like the one Mills described and urged the board not to delay action. Board members and staff asked clarifying questions about what licenses (wine/beer vs. hard liquor) would change and how quickly licenses could be issued.
The exchange did not produce an agenda motion or board vote; board members requested copies of the ordinances and legal language used in other Arkansas cities so staff can follow up. City staff said they would accept copies of sample ordinances by email for further review. The matter remains in the public-comments and study stage pending any formal agenda item from the council.
