Orange County NC Website
3 <br /> Attachment 1 <br /> October 8, 2024 Information from ABC General Manager <br /> BOCC AGENDA ITEM: <br /> Orange County ABC Board Stipend and General Manager Salary Cap Increase Request <br /> Summary:ABC Board member stipends and the General Manager's salary cap have not remained commensurate <br /> with other ABC boards of similar size and sales volume. <br /> This request for increases has no impact on the county budget as the ABC Board is self-funded. <br /> ITEM 1: General Manager Salary Cap <br /> Forecasting present and future financial growth for the Orange County ABC Board,the Orange County ABC Board <br /> requests to increase the salary cap for the General Manager position to $150,000.This request is to increase the <br /> range for coming years and does not indicate a salary adjustment in the current fiscal year. <br /> BACKGROUND: In the 04/05/2022 meeting of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners unanimously <br /> approved a request from the Orange County Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board to update the ABC General <br /> Manager's salary cap to $132,000. <br /> North Carolina General Statutes stipulate that the salary of the General Manager of a local ABC board "shall not <br /> exceed the salary authorized by the General Assembly for the clerk of superior court of the county in which the <br /> appointing authority was originally incorporated unless such compensation is otherwise approved by the <br /> appointing authority." (G.S. 7A-101)Although the duties and functions of the ABC Board are unrelated to those of <br /> the court clerk, a comparative study in 2021 showed that the court had 26 clerks and deputies while the ABC <br /> Board had more than 65 employees in eight retail locations, a central office and a warehouse. <br /> Beginning July 1, 2024, the general assembly raised the Orange County clerk of superior court's salary to <br /> $135,248, up from $131,309 (3%), superseding the previously approved cap ($132,000) approved by the Board of <br /> County Commissioners. <br /> In February 2024, Orange County ABC voted to meet the Orange County Living Wage of$17.65 per hour for part- <br /> time employees, offer starting wages of$20.00 per hour(an increase of 20.48%)for full-time employees and <br /> address compression across the pay scale.The General Manager's salary was not considered as part of this pay <br /> increase due to the proximity of the current salary to the cap. In July 2024,the General Manager's salary was <br /> increased by the ABC Board to $127,923 (3.21%). <br /> The disparity in percentage of pay increases between the general manager and staff has created significant issues <br /> of compression within the pay scale including the Assistant General Manager's salary who by statute cannot make <br /> more than the General Manager. <br /> With nine (9) stores, Orange County ABC produced annual sales of$31,311,344 (FY 2024). By comparison, Orange <br /> County ABC Board General Manager's salary continues to trail those of similar-size and neighboring ABC boards: <br /> • Durham County ABC(10 stores, $64,500,000) $165,000, <br /> • Wake County ABC (25 stores, $230 million) $191,000, <br /> • Greensboro (15 stores, $81,054,450) $180,000, <br /> • Pitt County ABC(8 stores, $33,681,355) $145,000, <br /> Raising the general manager's salary cap (the pinnacle of the ABC board pay scale by statute) would allow for <br /> equitable pay increases across the entirety of the pay scale in the future. <br />