News

ALRC advances keg ordinance

The Alcohol License Review Committee approved the keg registration ordinance at a meeting Wednesday.

If approved by Common Council, the ordinance would not only require consumers to obtain a permit and adhere to a one keg per day limit, but would also require all kegs in the City of Madison to be licensed and tagged.

Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, is the main advocate of the ordinance and said the primary purpose is to control the amount of alcohol being consumed at house parties.

The major debate over the ordinance is whether or not keg licensing would in fact reduce the consumption of alcohol in the city. Opponents of the ordinance have argued house owners will simply switch to serving hard alcohol.

Skidmore maintained kegs are the main source of alcohol at house parties and people, especially students, will not switch to hard alcohol because of cost issues.

"Maybe students will switch [to hard alcohol], but it will be more expensive," Skidmore said. "The bottom line is, kegs are cheap."

Among Skidmore's supporters is Sgt. Emil Quast of the Madison Police Department. He said keg licensing would significantly decrease the number of injuries at house parties and the number of students sent to detoxification centers. Although Quast acknowledged potential economic consequences for businesses, he said the destruction caused by intoxicated people on State Street is immense and has just as many ramifications.

"This ordinance is about the partnership between the city and the alcohol industry," Quast said. "The most important thing is that drinking can be monitored at bars, but not at house parties."

Skidmore said the fine for violations of the keg ordinance would range from $500 to $1,000. Yet, University of Wisconsin student Taylor Brown vocalized his concerns with the ordinance at the meeting.

"Fines don't really scare students because they don't think about it and they don't have the foresight to be concerned," Brown said. "The problem is that this keg registration doesn't educate people."

Many committee members agreed keg licensing won't solve the over-consumption problem, but education and an eventual culture change would. The committee members against the ordinance also said keg licensing in Madison would open the door for other problems.

"I'm concerned [keg licensing] would cause more problems with hard liquor and will encourage people to go over the city border to get kegs since people have to drive to get the kegs anyway," committee member Stephanie Rearick said.

Opponents to the ordinance argued there simply is not enough evidence that implementing keg licensing would improve underage drinking problems at all.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 8, said officers never have had problems identifying parties at unlicensed establishments or finding the owner of the house for prosecution.

"I've just never heard of any problems with house parties being prosecuted in the past, so I don't see how this ordinance is going to assist in the prosecution of any more house parties," Verveer said.

Madison Common Council will vote to approve or reject the ordinance at their next meeting Nov. 29.