U.S. News: Custer's Other Last Stand --- Should City Own the Liquor Store? A Battle Brews as Local Voters Go to the Polls
CUSTER, S.D. -- Some towns ban liquor sales on election day. Here, liquor sales are on the ballot.</br></br>Pruning government's role in the economy is a hot topic in an election year, and for voters in this Black Hills city, Tuesday will bring a chance to decide whether their municipal government should quit the spirits business.</br></br>South Dakota is one of two Great Plains states -- Minnesota is the other -- where cities and towns own and operate bars and liquor stores. In South Dakota, the practice precedes statehood. City fathers promoted saloons to raise funds from the purchases of ranchers, miners and railroad workers in an era before sales taxes. After Prohibition, communities were allowed to vote on whether they wanted to resume the sale of liquor themselves or let private operators handle the trade.</br></br>Today, 121 South Dakota cities and towns -- several with under 100 residents -- remain in the liquor business. That is just over a third of all the state's municipalities, most of which have fewer than 500 people.</br></br>Many of the stores lose money but hang on, anchoring retail strips in dying farm communities. Others, generally the bigger ones, shovel funds into their cities' coffers each year, thanks to a booze biz monopoly. The store in Brookings, home to the campus of South Dakota State University, had more than $3.4 million in sales last year; Sturgis, $1.7 million.