Women walking down the streets of downtown Mahomet, Ill., in the 1930s and ’40s were faced with the issue of harassment from one particular group: drunks. With the taverns, grocery stores and post office located in the same area, female citizens grew increasingly offended by the treatment they received from lingering drunks while completing daily tasks.

“I called them spit-in-floors taverns,” said 74-year-old Ben Epperson, a lifetime citizen of the village. “Mahomet had no law enforcement then so a lot of scores were handled in Mahomet.”

While the male population of Mahomet was fighting in World War II, the female population of the village decided to re-enact the federal prohibition ordinances that had been repealed on Dec. 5, 1933. Since 1942 there hasn’t been a single tavern in Mahomet.

Yet the need for economic expansion led the Mahomet Chamber of Commerce to start a petition in October to repeal the current prohibition ordinance, said Lee Jessup, president of the chamber.

The petition was turned into Village Clerk Cheryl Sproul on Jan. 17 with 1,436 signatures, 407 more signatures than necessary to get the issue on the ballot.

Citizens of Mahomet voted against repealing the ordinance in both 1969 and 1973, but today they will vote on it again.

Mahomet’s current prohibition ordinance states that alcohol cannot be sold within the village limits, although purchasing alcohol outside of the village and bringing it in is not illegal.

Jessup said that the sale of alcohol in Mahomet would enhance the business possibilities within the village and help the citizens through commercial development.

“If there’s additional commercial development in business then obviously that would bring tax revenue to the village,” Jessup said.

However, there are mixed feelings about whether the sale of alcohol in Mahomet will actually increase revenue in the village. Pastor Tim Payne of the Community Free Church of Mahomet said that although his congregation has not taken a stance on the issue, informal discussions among members have led him to believe that the vote is split evenly.

Payne said the reason for this split is that some community members believe that although increased tax revenue may come from alcohol sales, the village will need to hire more police officers to deal with the issues associated with alcohol.

“That’s an entirely new ordinance and service that we’re going to have to provide as a police department,” Mahomet’s Interim Chief of Police Jerry Gamble said.

Gamble said that if the ordinance were to be repealed, he would petition the village for the monetary assistance to hire additional police officers. The cost of hiring more police officers would approximately be more than $40,000 per year per officer once the cost of salary, benefits, equipment and uniforms were taken into consideration.

“So it’s kind of like ‘OK, we’re going to make a little bit more money as a community on the taxes of it (alcohol), but are we going to have to pay for a new cop?'” Payne said. “And then are we going to have other problems that increase?”

Gamble said that he does expect an increase in the number of alcohol-related crimes if the ordinance were to be repealed, but the police department would respond appropriately.

There are some business owners that believe repealing the ordinance could negatively impact their businesses.

Carter Phillips, manager of Hideaway of the Woods Bar and Grill, 809 S. Prairie View Rd., said that his business would be negatively affected as it is the first location outside of the village limits that can sell alcohol.

About 40 percent of profits come from alcohol sales, as his business operates under a county liquor license, Phillips said.

“It (the repeal) would probably hurt business since bars would spring up, watering holes would develop downtown,” Phillips said.

However, as a resident of Mahomet, Phillips said it would be convenient to be able to purchase alcohol without traveling north of Interstate 74 to his restaurant.

“You will probably see downtown Mahomet take off,” Phillips said. “It’s kind of a floundering town right now.”

Click to read the Daily Illini’s guide to Champaign city elections.