Special to Iredell Free News

The Statesville ABC Board has made its quarterly distributions, contributing a total of $59,706 to the City of Statesville, Mitchell Community College, Iredell-Statesville Schools and Iredell Museums.

The North Carolina ABC system is set up so that, after paying taxes and expenses, local ABC boards share their profits within their local communities, explained Tip Nicholson, Statesville ABC Board general manager.

For the second quarter of their fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, the Statesville ABC Board made the following distributions:

♦ $11,239 to Mitchell Community College;
♦ $11,239 to Iredell-Statesville Schools; and
♦ $4,495 to the Iredell Museums.

The City of Statesville received $6,288 from mixed beverage profits, $17,982 from retail sales and $8,463 for alcohol law enforcement services provided by the Statesville Police Department.

Nicholson said that working with the Statesville Police Department has been very positive and is more efficient than funding an ABC law enforcement position.

“They are very supportive of our efforts to enforce alcohol regulations and keep our community safe,” he explained.

In addition to the quarterly distributions, the Statesville ABC Board also funds alcohol education grants.

Recently, the board gave out a record $58,500 in alcohol education grants to local organizations involved in the assessment, intervention, treatment and referral of alcohol and drug related issues in the community.

“North Carolina’s ABC system is very unique in the way it distributes profits and it makes a big difference in the operations of some of our important local community organizations,” added Nicholson.