New Year's Wishes for a Drunken County
How privatizing liquor sales could help address the county's budget deficit
The Montgomery County Council recently announced budget cuts to neighborhood senior programs. Sobering up after a drunken spending spree is no fun. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a painless way to balance the budget? Three hundred million dollars is a lot of money, but there's an easy way to finance 20 percent of it, while improving services to citizens. First, riddle me this: What do three small Southern Maryland counties have in common with Montgomery County? Along with Montgomery, they are the only counties left in the state that still control liquor distribution and sales with programs implemented in 1933. Montgomery County has six times more people than these three small counties combined, and triple their per capita incomes. The …
