West Chester is trying to figure out how to pay for all their drunks.
"We've become the Manayunk of the western suburbs," says Pa. State Senator Andrew Dinniman.
Officials say scores of drunk college students from West Chester University are causing chaos in the Chester County town -- causing fights, destroying property and urinating in public.
"One of the real reasons it’s gotten worse is because we have 39 liquor licenses in a square mile borough," State Sen. Dinniman said.
The borough wants to hire more police officers to keep the peace, but they aren't sure how they're going to pay for it.
Imposing a 5-percent "pour tax" on all alcoholic drinks was the first idea thrown out by officials, but it's been met with ire from restaurant and bar owners.
"It’s frightening that you’re going to take another 5-percent of our gross business to pay for additional police officers that may or may not solve the problem," said Pat Ryan, owner of Ryan's Pub.
Politics
To counter the "pour tax," Ryan proposed the town institute a fee to be paid by businesses and the university to offset the cost for new law enforcement.
Now, proponents of both measures will duke it out at a March 16 meeting. Officials concede that paying for additional police may not solve the problem, but say something needs to be done.
