Jack Daniel's distillery targeted for more taxes

By JOE EDWARDS

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Tennessee's Jack Daniel's distillery has celebrated its small hometown of Lynchburg for years with folksy advertising.

Now local officials want to hand the company a bigger bar tab. How does $5 million sound?

A proposal approved by the Moore County Council asks the Tennessee legislature to authorize a local referendum on whether the business should pay that much on a new barrel tax.

If approved, the proposal could be a substantial help to local government, whose annual budget is $3 million. They would get every last drop of the tax, so to speak.

Distillery officials say they already do their civic and fiscal duty, paying $1.5 million annually in local property taxes and helping fund public facilities.