State Liquor Division briefs JFAC on revenue distributions, staffing and IT, requests modest FY2026 increases

The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee heard a presentation on the Idaho State Liquor Division’s finances and FY2026 budget requests, including requests to modestly raise pay for temporary store clerks, purchase network security equipment, and fund retail store replacements.

The briefing, delivered by Legislative Services analyst Kellen McGurkin and Division Director Andrew Arulanandam, outlined the division’s statutory role under Idaho law and showed FY2024 distributions and operating results. McGurkin told the committee that FY2024 distributions from the division totaled $118.3 million and explained the statutory distribution sequence, including a 2% surcharge on liquor sales that funds court services and a split of available funds between local governments and other statutory recipients.

Why it matters: Liquor division net revenues are a recurring source of funding for courts, cities and counties, and for special funds such as Peace Officer Standards and Training. Budget decisions affect both retail operations and those downstream distributions.

Most important figures and structure

- The division reported total retail and other liquor sales of about $319.1 million in FY2024 and reported net income of roughly $116.6 million; FY2024 distributions were ~$118.3 million. McGurkin said the small gap between net income and distributions reflects inventory and asset accounting adjustments. - Statutory distributions: a 2% surcharge on all liquor sales goes to the court services fund (about $6.7 million in FY2024). McGurkin said the remaining funds are split with roughly half flowing to cities, counties and magistrate courts (about $56.3 million), and fixed distributions and statutory transfers — including a 1.5% share to the Peace Officer Standards and…