Blue Ridge ABC Board

The City of Hendersonville and the Town of Laurel Park entered into an Interlocal Agreement on May 8, 2024 to merge the ABC Boards within their towns and call it the Blue Ridge ABC Board.

The Blue Ridge ABC Board is an independent local political subdivision of the State of North Carolina whose members are appointed and removed by both Boards.

The Board of Alcohol Control shall be organized under the authority of North Carolina G.S. 18B-700.  The Blue Ridge ABC Board is responsible for the general oversight of the City's ABC Stores. In North Carolina each locally controlled ABC system must have a citizen appointed board to oversee the general operations of the State controlled liquor distribution system. The City of Hendersonville City Council and the Town of Laurel Park Town Council are responsible for appointing citizens to the Blue Ridge ABC Board.

All actions are subject to the review and oversight of the State Board of Alcoholic Control.

Membership & Terms

The Blue Ridge ABC Board is composed of five members, a chairman and four other members, who are well-known for their business acumen, interest in public affairs, good judgement, knowledge, ability and good moral character. The members serve three-year staggered terms.  Three members are appointed by the City of Hendersonville City Council and two members are appointed by the Town of Laurel Park Town Council. Terms expire June 30 of the appointed year. The chairman of this Board is designated by the City Council.

Meetings

Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at the ABC Office, 205 S. Church St., Hendersonville, NC.

Statutory Authority of the ABC Board

The Board of Alcohol Control shall operate according to powers granted under the authority of Article 7, Local ABC Boards - North Carolina G.S. 18B-700 and has the authority to:

• Buy, sell, transport, and possess alcoholic beverages as necessary for the operation of its ABC stores.
• Adopt rules for its ABC system, subject to the approval of the ABC Commission.
• Hire and fire employees for the ABC System.
• Designate one employee as manager of the ABC system and determine his responsibilities.
• Require bonds of employees as provided in the rules of the ABC Commission.
• Operate ABC stores according to State ABC laws.
• Issue purchase/transportation permits according to State ABC laws.
• Employ local ABC officers or contract for these services.

The Board also has the authority to borrow money, buy and lease real and personal property and receive property.

Disposal of Profits

Allocation Between Divisions. Accounting for revenues, expenses, debt, liabilities, payables, receivables, profits, depreciation, and assets (both tangible and intangible), and all other financial and managerial accounting, shall occur on a division basis (Hendersonville division and Laurel Park division), in addition to the overall merged system, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

ABC Stores. Each store operated by the merged ABC system shall be operated as its own profit center. Except as provided in 12.b.ii, 12.b.iii, 13.c.l and 13.c.ii below, net profits from those stores currently located in the City of Hendersonville shall be attributed to the Hendersonville division, and net profits from those stores currently located in the Town of Laurel Park shall be attributed to the Laurel Park division. If any existing store is relocated, the net profits from such store shall continue to be attributed to the division where such store was originally located regardless of its new location.

In calculating net profit for a store, a proportional share of system wide administrative expenses shall be allocated to each store according to its gross revenue share as compared to the gross revenue of the merged system for the applicable period. As an example, system wide administrative expenses for the first quarter would be allocated to each store prop01tionally based on gross revenues of the store compared to the gross revenues of the entire system for the first quarter.

From and after the effective date of this Agreement, net profits from existing commercial accounts shall continue to be attributed to the division serving such account prior to the merger of the Hendersonville System and the Laurel Park System. As an example, net profits from a commercial customer whose account was with the Laurel Park System prior to the merger shall continue to be attributed to the Laurel Park division after the merger.

From and after the effective date of this Agreement, net profits from new commercial accounts shall be attributed to the ABC store located closest to the business being served by the commercial account, regardless of whose geographic jurisdiction the business is located in. Distance shall be judged as the crow flies. As an example, a restaurant located I mile from the Laurel Park Store, and 1.5 miles from the Hendersonville Church Street store, opens a new commercial account with the Blue Ridge ABC System. Net profits from this new commercial account would be attributed to the Laurel Park division. For the avoidance of doubt, annual renewals of a business's ABC permit shall not constitute new commercial accounts.