North Carolina's liquor sales system, which employs managers for each of the state's 171 governmental alcohol control boards, has been described as unwieldy and redundant by critics and beneficial to taxpayers by supporters.
An analysis of the salaries of the general manager running about 140 of the state’s 171 boards shows the average salary is about $70,000, the highest being $217,000 in Mecklenburg County. These managers handle liquor sales to the general public and to bars and restaurants in their coverage area. Most managers — about 100 of 171 boards — run a single store.
North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association President and CEO Lynn Minges says the vast number of boards and government employees running the system are redundant and the system is difficult to maneuver for businesses.
Brantley Uzzell, vice president of the North Carolina Association of ABC Boards, said the system is self-funded and costs nothing to citizens who do not drink liquor.
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‘Clunky and cumbersome’
North Carolina is one of 17 states where liquor sales are controlled by the government. It is the only state where liquor sales are controlled by local boards, rather than the state.
In North Carolina, after the lifting of Prohibition in 1933, counties, cities and towns could vote to approve liquor sales in their area. If approved, those local governments appoint an Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which hires a manager to run liquor stores and sell liquor and spirits to local businesses like bars and restaurants. Because cities in counties without liquor sales could choose to create their own ABC boards, there are now 171 boards, nearly double the state’s 100 counties.
The boards report in some ways to the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and profits are distributed to the local municipalities and counties in their area, but by law, each board is an independent political subdivision of the state, operating under their own policies and authority, said Hugh Stevens, a lawyer with Stevens, Martin, Vaughn & Tadych who specializes in public records and First Amendment law.
Minges, who advocates for the thousands of restaurants and lodges in North Carolina, said that separation between the ABC boards makes the system difficult to navigate and redundant.
“There are 100 counties, and somehow we do good with 100 units of county government, but we have 171 local (ABC) boards,” Minges said. “So that system is clunky and cumbersome and expensive and we bump up against those challenges with the local boards on a daily basis.”
One of the biggest difficulties bars and restaurants face is in buying liquor. In North Carolina, a state warehouse buys liquor from distributors, and ABC boards must order liquor from the state warehouse. Bars and restaurants must then purchase their liquor from their local ABC board.
If a bar’s ABC store or board is out of a product, or unable to get a product the bar ordered, the bar is not allowed to buy the product from a different board, even if the products are well in stock at another store nearby. A past investigation by Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team revealed some small ABC boards sometimes have difficulty getting the liquor customers want.
Because there are such a large number of small ABC boards, bars and restaurants also have to pick up liquor from stores, rather than get it delivered, as they might be able to do in a different system.
“This is not rocket science. And it's time for government to try to figure out how to be more efficient in delivering products,” Minges said. “These are things the private sector does every day.”
Uzzell, who manages two ABC boards, Lenoir County and Jones County, said the reasoning behind so many different boards is so that local purchases benefit local cities and counties. The profits from liquor sales go directly to the local cities and counties in the ABC boards’ coverage area. Those government leaders can decide how to use the majority of that money.
“I can’t speak for what's good for another county but I know what our county needs,” he said. “I think it’s better in the hands of the local leaders.”
Maggie Barchine, director of communications for the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, said the revenue from the alcohol control model often leads to investment in infrastructure, education and substance abuse prevention and help.
“I think, for states that do have the control model, the citizens in those states receive a lot of benefits, you know, the fact that the revenue that is made, goes back for the citizens of the state.”
Each of the boards in North Carolina requires board members, many of whom are paid per meeting, and general managers and employees, all of whom are paid by the revenue made on liquor sales.
Managers’ salaries
General managers’ salaries range from $20,000 annually to $217,000, according to the salary information provided by about 140 ABC boards.
Minges believes having so many highly paid government employees selling liquor is wasteful.
“They (the boards) each have infrastructure. They have staff. They have overhead costs. And they are all government employees. They're all on the government till,” she said.
The salaries of ABC general managers are dictated by state law that says the general managers may not make more annually than the clerk of superior court in that county. There can be exceptions made by the leaders that appoint the ABC board, and there are several instances. In at least six instances, the ABC general manager makes more money than the clerk of court in that county. Those include Mecklenburg's manager, Wake County, Greensboro, Sanford, Chatham County and Boone.
There are also rules that apply to those who are appointed to the ABC boards. These members are appointed by the city or county leaders who create the ABC board. Some board members are not paid at all, while others receive the state maximum of $150 per meeting.
In some cases, the appointing authorities voted to make an exception and pay their ABC board members more than $150 per meeting. There are no laws guiding when exemptions to the state limits on general manager salaries and board pay can be made, only that the appointing authority — county or city leaders — must approve the exemptions.
In Mecklenburg County, the board chair is paid $600 per month, and the remaining four members are paid $500 per month, with typically 11 meetings held each year, according to information provided by the Mecklenburg County ABC board. Wake County pays its chairman $500 per meeting, and other members $400 per meeting, according to the ABC board.
Some members of boards that operate one store earn more than the $150 per meeting rate set by the state. West Jefferson ABC board members receive $500 per meeting, with 12 to 14 meetings per year, according to General Manager Tony Lyall. Mount Holly board members get $200 per month and the chairman gets $250 per month, according to the Mount Holly ABC Board. Waynesville ABC board members get $250 per meeting, with one meeting a month, according to the board.
The independence and lack of consistency between boards leads each board to have a monopoly in its area, Minges said.
Minges believes because of the way the system is set up, not allowing private liquor sales or wholesale purchases from other ABC boards, there isn’t incentive for quality service either, she said.
“I mean, if that local board realized that they were going to lose a sale to another neighboring board, they might be more inclined to procure their product and their customers’ demand,” Minges said. “Now, there's not a lot of incentive to provide good customer service.”
Behind the data
About 30 ABC boards of North Carolina’s 171 did not respond to public information requests for the compensation of their board members and general manager.
Some refused the request outright. The information is of public record, according to North Carolina law, Stevens, a specialist in public record law, said.
In response to the request from Lee Enterprises, the Highlands ABC Board manager Kevin Vinson said, “I will not provide manager or any other employee salaries of the store as that is private information since we are employees of the store, not the state.” The board operates one store.
The Mount Pleasant ABC Board asked their general manager, Amy Underwood, not to release the information, she said.
Stevens said as independent subdivisions of the state, ABC employee salaries are of public record.
“There is no question that ABC boards are all public bodies and anyone who says otherwise or tries to stonewall a request is wrong, that’s just not the case,” Stevens said.
The Kings Mountain ABC Board said they needed more information to respond to the information request. Despite more information on the request being provided, the ABC board did not respond to further emails. By law, public bodies are not entitled to any information about who is requesting public information, Stevens said.
The Maxton County ABC Board would not release the information without state permission but as independent subdivisions, that permission is not required, according to NC Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission Public Affairs Director Jeff Strickland.
ABC boards were given nearly two months to respond to the request and several reminder emails and phone calls.