Chatham County voters turned out to the polls on Tuesday to re-elect incumbent county commissioner Mike Dasher to his seat on the board. But voters also passed two referendums on the ballot.
Dasher defeated challenger candidate Katelin Hancock by earning 54 percent of the vote. He’s served on the Board of County Commissioners since 2016, including one term as its chair.
In addition the county commissioners election, Chatham County voters also approved the referendum to allow the sale of malt beverages, chiefly beer, in the county. The item passed by a substantial margin, with 73 percent of votes in favor of the change.
Chair of the Board of County Commissioners Karen Howard spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck as voters made their decision. She explained how the lack of laws allowing malt beverage sales has not stopped the growing towns in Chatham County.
“Towns have passed legislation that allow sales of malt beverages and other forms of alcoholic beverage,” said Howard. Somehow, malt beverages were excluded from being able to be sold in the county. If you’re in a municipality, like Siler City or Pittsboro, you’re covered and can have a brewery. But in the [unincorporated] county, you can’t.”
Howard said the rule has never included restaurants in the rest of the county, but it limits businesses like breweries or tasting rooms that don’t serve food. But thanks to the referendum passing, the rule will soon be changed.
“It really just closes that hole,” Howard said. “There is no practical reason it was excluded.”
The other referendum passed by a much narrower margin. Just more than 51 percent of voters agreed to implement a quarter-cent increase on the sales tax in Chatham County.
Howard said the goal of the increase is to raise significant funds to help the county address pressing issues it has not in the past.
“If you’re going to make these heavy lifts,” she said, “like affordable housing or preservation of cultural land, they’re costly. But the benefit to the county is countless, it really does pay off.”
Howard said the quarter-cent increase puts Chatham County’s sales tax on the same level as the surrounding counties. The change will help bring around $1.6 million to the county, a high amount Howard said the county might not get from other sources.
“The less the state spends, the more the county is going to have to pony up,” she said. “This, to me, is a very reasonable way of going ahead and meeting these critical needs without placing an additional burden on property owners.”
Despite being voted for on Tuesday, neither of the referendums go immediately into effect. A spokesperson for Chatham County said it will take two to three weeks before businesses can apply for on-premises malt beverage licenses. The sales tax will need to be passed in a resolution by the Board of Chatham County Commissioners, with it expected to appear on the agenda for its April meeting. From there, the tax will then go to the Department of Revenue with the latest implementation date of October 1.
For more information on election results from Tuesday, be sure to visit the Chapelboro Local Elections tab.
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