Locals from alcohol distributor to barkeep to imbiber predict a hangover from the state's plan to double the liquor tax.

"This affects little, tiny businesses all over the state," said Mike Repay, who co-owns Flat Rock Tap in Hammond. "Any time you single out a particular group for a tax, it's not good."

Indiana lawmakers want to boost the tax to help pay off $47 million in debt owed by the group running Indianapolis' pro sports stadiums.

Repay and other bar owners say they do not know how much the increase will affect their costs, but they see it trickling from distributor down to bar stool.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States denounced the tax, saying it would dry up Indiana retail sales by nearly $100 million.

Though he also is a bar owner, Portage Councilman Brendan Clancy is more concerned with the timing and local benefit of the tax.

"I don't think we should be subsidizing basketball when we're laying off our dispatchers and can't fill our potholes," Clancy said.

Clancy wants air-tight assurances Lake and Porter county communities will get their share of the plan's $5.6 million for region economic development projects.

"If it's not coming back to my city and the people who are paying for it, then I have a real problem with it," Clancy said.

For some residents, a bump to the liquor levy is just one more attempt to cash in on their vices. The state recently hiked cigarette taxes.

"I'm sick of everything going up," said Sharon Kouba, bartender at R House of Brews in Crown Point.

"Nobody's got any money these days," she said.

Before taking his final swig of beer, a man sitting at the bar joked to Kouba: "Get me another one, before the prices go up."