Utah liquor agency outlines efficiency measures, requests annual third‑party inventory
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Summary
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services officials told lawmakers the agency can absorb several proposed one‑time reductions through fee optimization and a temporary pause on a statutory market wage adjustment, and requested $525,000 for a three‑year, third‑party full inventory count to improve internal controls.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services told the Economic and Community Development Appropriation Subcommittee on Jan. 27 that it can meet several proposed one‑time budget reductions through fee optimization and temporary adjustments to statutory wage provisions, while asking lawmakers to fund an annual, third‑party full inventory count.
Gary Syphus of the Legislature’s Office of the Analyst framed the discussion by noting DABS’ scale: "Utah is one of 17 liquor control states and one of two totally state run systems," and he outlined options for 5% reductions that include reversing a market wage increase and optimizing existing fees. Erica Evans, DABS executive director, described operational streamlining made since she joined the agency, saying, "We've really looked at streamlining, and getting rid of silos within our operations." Todd Darrington, deputy director of finance, added that the agency produces roughly $500–600 million in annual sales and operates on about $93 million in budget, returning more than $100 million annually to state programs.
The agency requested $525,000 total for a three‑year program of annual third‑party full inventory counts — $175,000 per year — to strengthen internal controls and improve the accuracy of financial reporting. Darrington said the last full count "allowed us to find independently potential issues" that internal cycle counts did not reveal.
Committee members asked whether pausing the market wage adjustment would harm retention. Evans said the statutory market wage adjustment is intended to bring retail and warehouse workers to market median wages but that "this year it's a freeze on adjustment" that would not affect general cost‑of‑living increases already provided. Lawmakers also questioned the agency's statutory markup on products and whether a new warehouse would lower supplier prices; agency representatives said markups are set in statute, the agency uses bailment and direct‑to‑store shipping practices to control costs, and a new warehouse would expand storage and picking locations to pursue volume discounts but would not change statutory markup without legislative action.
The committee did not take a final vote on DABS items during the hearing. The next steps include further budget deliberations and potential inclusion of the inventory request and any agreed adjustments in the appropriation bills considered later in the session.