State to look into mixed drink tax

It looks like the Tennessee Comptroller's office will review the code on the mixed drink tax, and then officials can determine whether Knox County and Farragut ow the school system a little bit of coin. Or a lot. Like at least $1.4 million.

You see, the two government haven't paid the school folks money owed from the liquor-by-the-drink tax. The county more than likely owes as much as $350,000. And Farragut could be on the hook for at least $1.1 million dating back to 1999.

The town has an annual budget of $6 million a year, so it could be difficult for Farragut to pay what's owed to the school system at one time.

State law says that 50 percent of the mixed drink tax has to go to education. Neither Farragut, which passed an ordinance in 1988 to allow establishment to serve mixed drinks, nor Knox County, which approved its ordinance in 2009, has ever paid the tax.

The City of Knoxville is up-to-date on its payments.

Knox County and Farragut will now wait until the comptroller makes its ruling.