The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board is considering increasing fees on each bottle of liquor sold in the state to pay for its new warehousing being built in Montgomery.
Their new 250,000-square-foot building will be ready next year. It is expected to cost $98 million.
According to the posted agenda of their next meeting, the board will, “Consider increase of the Central Warehouse Bailment Fee.”
The current Bailment Fee is $0.72 per case. According to sources, the amount being considered could be as high as $1.50 per case.
While this fee is initially paid by businesses that sell alcohol in the state, it’s expect that those companies will pass this on to Alabama customers.
Alabama lawmakers passed and Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation in 2025 to allow ABC to own its own warehouse space instead of using a new leased warehouse.
In August, ABC’s Chief Operating Officer Neil Graff told the Legislature’s General Fund committees that the warehouse will be paid from ABC operating expenses over 20 years.
The Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) is building the facility, which is replacing multiple rented warehouses.
Of the total project cost, about $65 million is for the building and administrative space and roughly $35 million for new material-handling equipment.
Nearly every bottle of liquor sold in Alabama is distributed through Montgomery. The vast majority of Control States do not impose a Bailment Fee.
According to the Tax Foundation, Alabama already ranks 4th in the nation when it comes to taxes and fees per gallon of alcohol sold. S
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
