Alcohol petition clears first hurdle; now comes election

The liquor petitions have passed the first hurdle with almost 600 signatures validated by the Jasper County Clerk's office, according to Diana South.

The next step will be for the petitions to go before the Jasper County Commissioners' Court, probably at the regular March 10 session, to vote on putting it on the city's election in May.

One petition would allow beer and wine sales in stores, and the other would eliminate the cardsystem requirement for selling drinks in restaurants.

The Jasper Citizens for Better Business has hired Texas Petition Strategies (TPS), a consulting firm based in Arlington and Austin to assist them in conducting the petition drive and election. TPS has helped over 50 cities and counties to conduct similar efforts including East Texas Communities like Lufkin, Polk County, Houston County, Palestine, Corsicana, Longview and Texarkana.

"We have helped cities all over Texas change this law to bring in additional sales tax revenue. In fact, some of the cities we helped have now generated millions of dollars in local sales tax- money that was going to some other town or city. They have now raised millions of dollars, without having to raise local property taxes," stated Texas Petition Strategies Partner, John Hatch.