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Resident urges Lawrence to tax alcohol sales at watch parties; commissioners do not act on proposal
Summary
During a June 26 Lawrence special meeting, resident Steven Watts supported allowing alcohol at World Cup watch parties and urged the city to tax those sales or create a taxable downtown district to raise revenue; commissioners did not adopt the taxation suggestion at the meeting.
Steven Watts, a resident who spoke during public comment at the Lawrence City Commission's June 26 special meeting, said he "fully support[s] the idea" of permitting watch‑party alcohol sales and urged the city to consider ways to capture revenue from those transactions.
Watts told commissioners, "We must find a way to tax these drug sales that go on when we allow these kind of events... ethanol is a drug," and suggested creating a taxable district downtown to generate funds for housing and other local needs. The commission did not take formal action on the taxation proposal during the special meeting; the record shows the body moved directly to adopt the resolution authorizing event permitting and alcohol sales and then adjourned.
