CEDAR BLUFF — This small town on Weiss Lake ended its long battle over alcohol sales almost two years ago, but this year is crucial to the town's financial future as it gauges how much revenue it can count on from beer, wine and liquor sales each year.

From 2005 through 2010, Cedar Bluff was the only place in Cherokee County to buy alcohol. But after the Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2010 allowing cities in dry counties with at least 1,000 residents to hold alcohol referendums, Centre and Leesburg joined the fold, and that is expected to cut into Cedar Bluff's revenue.

“We haven't felt the full effects of Centre and Leesburg going wet until now,” Mayor Ethel Sprouse said last week. “This year we will be able to tell.”

The numbers tell the beginning of the story. In January 2011, Cedar Bluff collected $8,580 in revenue from alcohol sales. The first month of this year, that number dropped to $5,208.

“Once we get through this year, we'll know what we can plan on,” Sprouse said.

Alcohol sales have never been the Golden Goose that many people think. For most municipalities, the money is a much-needed source of revenue to help pay for basic city services such as police forces, not a pile of cash to fill wish lists.

Cedar Bluff collected $102,780 in alcohol sales revenue for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2011. Since 2005, when sales started, the town has collected $589,340. Out of that, the town has donated $144,413 to Cedar Bluff School and paid in excess of $182,000 in attorney fees.

“The revenue goes into the general fund, which goes to run the town,” Sprouse said. “We need it.”

The Town Council votes each year on whether to donate money to the school. One of the selling points for alcohol sales during the first wet-dry vote in 2003 was a pledge to help the school with money for extracurricular activities. Although some have questioned continuing the donations to the school, the Council has voted to do so every year since alcohol collections began in 2005.

Six businesses in Cedar Bluff are licensed to sell alcohol, including the Lighthouse Restaurant and Motel and La Cabana Mexican restaurant.

Glenda Tallent-Smith, who owns and operates the Lighthouse, said alcohol sales are good for business.

“I think we are getting some of the people who were going to Rome or Gadsden to eat,” she said.

Evan Smith, a member of the Cedar Bluff Town Council and Tallent-Smith's husband, said the main benefit for the restaurant is that alcohol increases food sales but doesn't detract from the family setting.

“We're still family owned and have a family atmosphere,” he said.

Sprouse said she is glad to have moved past the legal struggles with alcohol sales and focus on other ways to improve the town.

Cherokee Quality Health Care, which will offer medical, dental and optometry services, will open soon in the Johnson Pharmacy complex, she said.

“We're extremely pleased about that,” Sprouse said. “With time, we hope other restaurants and businesses will see the beauty of this town.”

Like Cedar Bluff, the city of Centre needs the $93,518 in revenue it has collected since alcohol sales began in March 2011 to help with operations.

The recent increase in gasoline prices already has offset some of the gains from alcohol revenue, Mayor Tony Wilkie said.

This is also an important year financially for Centre. The city will wrap up its first full year of alcohol sales and can see how close it comes to its projected $100,000 in revenue from those sales.

About a dozen businesses in Centre, including Walmart and Ingles, have received alcohol licenses since the city started selling beer, wine and liquor. Several new businesses opened after Centre went wet, including Golden Beverage and Party Time on the Chesnut Bypass. The Gridiron Restaurant, also new in Centre, sells alcohol.

Wilkie said the city took extra precautions in rolling out alcohol sales. An alcohol review committee looks at new applications for licenses before they are presented to council.

“We have an ordinance in place that may be more restrictive than other cities. Identification is required to buy alcohol whether you're 21 or 101,” he said. “We wanted to do everything we could to stop underage purchases.”

In Leesburg, alcohol sales started in September. Two businesses, Tony's Meats and R&D One Stop, sell alcohol, and two more are preparing applications for licenses, according to town officials.