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RALEIGH – State accountability leaders are looking at ways to clamp down on the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control system after recent problems with the government-run operation.

North Carolina's Budget Reform and Accountability Commission is weeding through recommendations that do everything from tweaking to overhauling the current system.

The sale of alcohol in North Carolina is a $5 billion industry. That includes 25,000 permitees and 17,000 retail locations. With that many people and businesses to keep track of, there are a lot of questions about how it should be managed.

“You're seeing some great discrepancies across the state on how the system is run,” says Norris Tolson, the state Budget Reform and Accountability Commission co-chair. “When you see 163 boards, with 100 counties, you can have to ask yourself, why do you need 163?”

BRAC has joined several other groups in taking on the mission of studying the Alcoholic Beverage Control system. Also keeping tabs is the governor, the state ABC commission and the legislature. BRAC says their mission is to leave no stone unturned in this issue.

“So the governor is prepared, if the general assembly were to come back and say, 'OK governor, what do you want to do about this particular issue?'” says Tolson. “We will have anticipated it, hopefully, and done a study on it.”

To help with that, on Wednesday BRAC heard from the chair of the state's ABC commission, Jon Williams. He says although he is not endorsing any of proposals for system changes, he does have some ideas for what might work. Those ideas include consolidating all ABC systems to county systems, nothing smaller than that. Also, making all county ABC systems use the same financial structure, so there is more transparency in money being spent and made. Williams also suggested making the county ABC systems an actual arm of local government.

“That would give you a lot more verification of the standards being observed,” says Williams. “Because now you are leveraging the IT, the human resources, the auditing infrastructure and the financial infrastructure of local government.”

Williams cautioned the board, and others, to keep health and safety in mind when deciding what to do about ABC, rather than just what could make the state and local governments the most money.