The Taylorsville ABC and Catawba County ABC boards will merge after getting the OK from Catawba County commissioners on Friday.
The unanimous vote from commissioners appeared to be a formality. The Taylorsville Town Council has already approved the measure and the Catawba County ABC Board website on Friday listed Kim Brown, who was chair of the Taylorsville ABC Board, as a board member. One person from the Taylorsville board was to be appointed to the consolidated ABC board. At its Dec. 8 meeting, Taylorsville voted to appoint Brown to be the Taylorsville representative on the merged board.
Ray Abernathy, general manager of Catawba County ABC stores, told commissioners he feels the merger will be a benefit to Catawba County and Taylorsville. He said a lot of smaller boards are having trouble making ends meet and that the Catawba County ABC Board is in the position to absorb Taylorsville.
Abernathy has been overseeing the Taylorsville ABC store since June, when the previous manager of the Taylorsville store was fired.
Abernathy said the Taylorsville store was only receiving a shipment of stock once a month. Since he has been managing the store, it has been receiving stock twice a week. The store’s stock has been rearranged and there are fewer holes and more stock on the shelves, he said.
Abernathy said sales at the store increased 10 percent in November.
The store currently has an interim manager but will have a permanent manager in place soon, Abernathy said.
The merger also is expected to save around $12,000 a year in accounting and audit services. The town of Taylorsville also would see a one-time cash influx, possibly as much as $80,000, from selling its alcohol inventory to Catawba County ABC
In return, the Catawba County ABC system will receive .5 percent of gross sales from the Alexander County store.
The Alexander store will remain in its current location, with Taylorsville retaining the option to re-establish its own ABC board at any time.
Taylorsville Town Manager David Odom has said the merger will not change the way alcohol is sold in Taylorsville.
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners normally meet on Mondays but had to change its meeting set for Feb. 6 to Friday to allow board members to attend a forum.
In other business, commissioners:
- Presented the 2011 Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association to county Budget Manager Jennifer Mace and Budget Analysts Paul Murray and Katrina Crooks.
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