PA Auditor General says liquor store privatization not a good deal for taxpayers

Wednesday, 07 December 2011 15:52

PA Auditor General says liquor store privatization not a good deal for taxpayers

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Thursday, December 8:

As the end of the year approaches, a proposal to sell Pennsylvania's liquor stores appears to be stalled in the General Assembly. Even though poll after poll shows Pennsylvanians supporting privatization of Wine and Spirit Shoppes, questions remain about how much money the state would receive for the sale of licenses and how revenue currently generated by the establishments can be made up.

Last week, Pennsylvania's Democratic Auditor General Jack Wagner came out in opposition to privatizing the liquor stores -- saying his analysis shows it would lead to higher prices on many popular wine and spirits and would fall short of collecting the $470 million the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board transfers to the state's General Fund every year.

The Auditor General also is calling for a new formula to determine how much funding the state's charter and cyber charter schools should be receiving. Wagner indicates that currently, it's unknown how much money it actually cost to educate a student at a charter or cyber charter school.

Wagner will appear on Thursday's Radio Smart Talk to discuss liquor store privatization and several other issues.

LISTEN TO PROGRAM:

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# Loretta Lehman 2011-12-08 10:30

For discriminating wine drinkers, there is no comparison to our own liquor stores. The chairman's wine selections sell us hard-to-find quality wines at great discounts. If our state liquor stores are sold, people like me with have no choice but to purchase wine from other states, causing loss of tax dollars to Pennsylvania.

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# Lewis Houghton 2011-12-08 10:38

Wagner stated, "aside from the fiscal impact, he was greatly concerned that privatization would result in less convenience for people in the state’s rural areas, requiring customers to drive long distances to buy wine and spirits."

Since when do we need to subsidize liquor when no other industry like food markets or pharmacies are subsidized?

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# arby 2011-12-09 09:45

People should read up on 'privatization of Chicago parking meters' where all the revenue for the next 75 years is going to Abu Dhabi investors. The Chicago people are paying all their meter revenue to the Gulf States who can raise rates whenever they want. That is a revenue source that the city cannot tap for seventy-five years And on top of it, the Chicagoans are bearing the cost of paying the police force and courts to enforce the meters and make sure the sheiks get paid.
The continued public payment for courts and police to enforce private interests appears to be an integral feature of the PLCB privatization as well.

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