Students going out for a night on the town could be paying a 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks by this time next year if the State College Borough Council has its way.
"We all want it," Council President Elizabeth Goreham said. "This is our dream tax."
In its capacity as a member of the University-Community Network of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities, the borough has spent about a year drafting an ordinance that would levy a 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks, Goreham said.
The next step, Goreham said, is to lobby local state legislators like Sen. Jake Corman, Rep. Scott Conklin or Rep. Kerry Benninghoff to introduce a bill about the tax.
University Park Undergraduate Association President Gavin Keirans said Monday that the measure will lead to higher prices, not a weakened alcohol culture.
"This is not a dream tax," Keirans said. "By pointing a tax at something that's clearly consumed mostly by students, it's sending the wrong message."
Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the proposal represents an "interesting" approach to dealing with State College's alcohol culture.
"For our part of it, we have to turn to tuition and state appropriations to help pay for what happens on campus [as a result of alcohol abuse]," he said. "Why not turn to, as a revenue source, some of the folks who are selling the alcohol?"
These funds could pay for the police services and vandalism costs associated with alcohol abuse, Mahon said.
Penn State will not take an active lobbying role, Mahon said.
"That's really a borough decision," he said. "We wouldn't interfere in any way at all."
The proposed measure represents an opportunity for the borough to receive income from its student population, which typically pays fewer taxes than permanent residents, Goreham said.
"In the borough, most of our residents are students who are here to learn and we love that," she said. "But they don't pay very much earned income tax."
A 10 percent drink tax would allow the borough to recoup the costs of some of State College's "alcohol-inspired issues," Goreham said.
"It's not rocket science," she said. "We need the money."
Duke Gastiger, owner of The All-American Rathskeller, 108 S. Pugh St., said the measure would have a "negative effect" and entice students to frequent taverns and restaurants outside of the borough.
"As a business owner, that's all you can ask for out of your municipal government -- that they give you a level playing field," Gastiger said. "That would give a competitive advantage to businesses outside of the borough."
Mahon had his own doubts -- the State College culture of inexpensive drink specials could lead to a less effective poured drinks tax, he said.
"You wonder: What is a 10 percent tax on a 25-cent beer?" he said. "Some of the alcohol establishments really try to outdo each other with cheap sales."
