Associated Press
Being able to drink alcohol on Panama City Beach is legal again after the month-long ban ended on Friday.
The decision to ban beer, wine and liquor during Spring Break for the first time was controversial. Bay County officials did it after many alcohol-related incidents the past couple years.
While law enforcement officials saw a decrease in crime, hotel reservations were down more than 50 percent. Businesses also reported sales down anywhere from 50 to 85 percent.
According to The News-Herald, Panama City police responded to 6,409 calls for service and made a combined 547 arrests. For the six weeks of Spring Break last year, they responded to 13,301 calls for service and made 1,332 arrests.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Department told the paper they responded to 3,500 calls for service in March and made a total of 402 arrests. Last year during Spring Break, they responded to 6,138 calls for service and arrested 1,091 people.
Gage Witt, a 22-year-old senior from Missouri Science & Technology, told the paper that this was the third straight year he had come to Panama City Beach for Spring Break but that he planned on going elsewhere if the bans remained in effect for Spring Break next year.
“If it comes back, I’ll come back,” Witt said. “But South Padre (Island, Texas) is the new Panama. A lot of people I know went there instead.”
Despite the large decrease in revenues from sales taxes from spring break, Bay County Commissioner Mike Thomas said the city’s annual tax revenues still could exceed what they generated last year.
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
