Harrisburg, Pa. - A state legislator has authored a bill that would eliminate a state tax on alcohol that was imposed 73 years ago to help pay for clean up and recovery of the Johnstown flood of 1936.

Rep. John Payne, R-Dauphin, said the Johnstown flood tax was to be repealed several years after its enactment. "Seven decades later, Pennsylvanians are still being charged a tax that no longer meets its original intent," he said.

The original tax of 10 percent tax on alcohol sold in state liquor stores was increased to 15 percent in 1963 and raised again to its current rate of 18 percent in 1968, according to Payne. It is charged in addition to the state sales tax of six percent.

Payne's legislation, House Bill 2039, would reduce the Johnstown flood tax to 9 percent on Jan. 1, 2010 and eliminate it on Jan. 1, 2011. The tax is currently collected and placed in the state's General Fund to help finance Pennsylvania's annual operating expenses.

Payne said because the flood tax was never eliminated, red flags are raised whenever elected officials propose temporary tax increases. "There is no such thing as a temporary tax, " he said. "Many elected officials claim that a tax will expire when it never really does. The Johnstown flood tax is just one example."

According to the Johnstown Flood Museum, the flood of 1936 killed about two dozen people and destroyed 77 buildings. The catastrophic flood of 1889, among the worst disasters in American history, killed about 2,200 people and destroyed 1,600 homes.

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