WILMINGTON -- A local liquor board chief at the core of a controversy over extravagant spending in North Carolina's alcoholic beverage system says he will collect nearly $100,000 annually in retirement.
New Hanover County Alcoholic Beverage Control administrator Billy Williams told The Star-News of Wilmington that he has gotten state notification he'll receive about $8,300 a month, or $99,600 a year.
Williams said last week he would retire at the end of February as he reaches 42 years of working for the local liquor board. He started as a store clerk and has been administrator since 1987.
The state treasurer's department calculates retirement benefits for government employees by factoring age, estimated Social Security payments, unused sick leave, the number of beneficiaries, the number of years a person has worked for the system, and the average salary based on the four highest-paid years.
Treasurer's office spokeswoman Heather Franco would not comment on what Williams would receive in retirement.
"We don't know what someone's benefit is until it's processed," she said.
All three members of the local ABC board resigned after it was reported Williams and his son, assistant administrator Bradley Williams, were paid salaries and bonuses that totaled $400,000 a year.
A costly trip Billy and Bradley Williams took last year to an industry convention was cited last week by the state alcohol commission's chief as one example of a "culture of entitlement" by some local officials to extravagantly spend liquor taxes that should go to municipal treasuries.
Under North Carolina's patchwork liquor sales system, the 161 independently run county and municipal liquor agencies select inventories and set salaries, while the state ABC Commission runs the central warehouse where local stores buy their liquor.
Local liquor outlets last year generated $259 million in liquor taxes for state and local governments, but operating the stores costs about $113million a year.
ABC Commission chairman Jon Williams said spending abuses at some local liquor boards were exemplified by the first-class air fare, $300-a-night resort hotel and $200-a-day luxury car Billy and Bradley Williams rented during their Phoenix trip.
Receipts show that while the plane tickets for Billy and Bradley Williams cost $2,300, the men were reimbursed for $1,114 - the value of coach-class fares, the Star-News reported Friday.
