In response to the recent opinion piece submitted by Austin Quinn-Davidson, Felix Rivera and Forrest Dunbar regarding the alcohol tax, “A different, better alcohol tax,” I found this article to be irritating and quite frankly, insulting. How many times do the majority of voters in this city have to say no to this absurdity? Certain members of the Assembly have dressed this issue up and given it a “face-lift” and expect the reasonable people of this city to be fooled by this. They couldn’t get the voters to sign off the last two times on the ballot. Why would they think it’s going work this time?
They say this a better tax. What is a “better tax?” To me, this statement is an oxymoron. There simply is no good tax, much less better. The money, they preach, will go to good causes, a pipe dream. All this tax is a feel-good effort, because some misguided folks think that it’s the right thing to do. Why is it that alcohol tax is always the answer to these unfortunate issues?They say it’s modest tax and that it won’t be raised unless it’s voted on. Keep in mind that when you give the government an inch they will, in time, take a mile. In other words, today it’s only 5%. What about tomorrow — 10%, 15%, 50%?
Another point they stress in the article is the need for Anchorage to charge more because other Alaska cities do. Again, this is ridiculous reasoning. Do you honestly believe that receiving city tax money from beer in the Juneau area actually helps to do reduce crime and aid the homelessness in that fair city? Alaska already has some of the highest state alcohol taxes in the nation and we have an Assembly that wants more. I think not. I swear we have Assembly members who are bound and determined to turn Anchorage into another Seattle, Portland or San Francisco. These cities all have programs to address these issues and see what’s happened to their inner cities? It’s terrible. Some people think that I’m heartless and don’t care; well, I do care. I just don’t think that every time we address these terrible conditions that it’s always the responsibility of people who imbibe.
— Michael Krupa
Anchorage
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