Voters will decide on March 1 whether or not Chilton County will go wet.

The question will appear on the ballot as: “Do you favor the legal sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages within Chilton County on any day except Sunday?”

According to abcboard.alabama.gov, Chilton County is one of 25 counties out of 67 in Alabama that is still dry.

Three municipalities in Chilton County are already selling alcohol including Jemison, Thorsby and Clanton.

Residents living in the city limits of the three municipalities will not be allowed to vote on the referendum.

House Bill 647 was passed during the 2015 Alabama Legislation Session, and sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Martin.

The Chilton County Commission voted during the March 23, 2015, meeting to allow residents to vote on a wet/dry referendum with all of the proceeds from the alcohol sales going to the county road department for roads and bridges.

“The importance of this referendum is that all of the proceeds would go to the upkeep and maintenance of the roads throughout the county,” Chilton County Commission Chairman Allen Caton said.

During the meeting, Commissioner Shannon Welch introduced a resolution to allow the residents of Chilton County to vote on a wet/dry referendum for Chilton County in the November 2016 election.

Headley voted to amend the bill to exclude the cities from the vote and specify that all revenue would be designated to road and bridge maintenance.

Although an exact amount of how much money the alcohol sales would generate for the county is unknown, the county would benefit off of the sales from the three municipalities that currently sell alcohol.

“We will get the revenue from the whole county,” Caton said. “We will receive a percentage of the alcohol sales from the three municipalities that are already selling alcohol if the referendum is passed.”

According to Cheryl Mason, accounting director for the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, if an ABC Package Store was located within the city limits of a municipality that was wet, the county would be eligible to receive a portion of a 2-percent tax divided between the county and the municipality where the store is located.

For example, if an ABC Package Store is located in Jemison, the county would receive 25 percent of the 2-percent tax with Jemison receiving 75 percent of the tax.

If an ABC Package Store is located outside of the city limits, the county could be eligible to receive the entire 2-percent.

“The sales tax collected by the ABC Board is 6-percent,” Mason said. “Four percent of that goes to the state, and the other 2-percent is divided between the city and county that the store is located in.”

Mason clarified that other stores selling alcohol within the county or city limits would not be subject to the same tax structure as an ABC Package Store.

A ruling in 2015 by the Alabama Supreme Court struck down a state law from 2009 that allowed municipalities of a certain size to hold referendums on the sale of alcoholic beverages even if they were located inside a county that did not allow such sales.

Jemison and Thorsby voters approved alcohol sales in separate elections in 2010, based on the 2009 law.

Martin sponsored bills that allowed Jemison and Thorsby to continue alcohol sales, and the bills were passed by the Alabama Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley on March 12, 2015.

According to House Bill 647, if a majority of the voters voting in the county election vote “yes,” alcohol beverages may be legally sold, distributed and consumed within the county on any day except Sunday.

If the majority of the voters voting in the county election vote “no,” alcoholic beverages can still be legally sold, distributed and consumed in municipalities.