This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Faced with a host of liquor store closures, Utah imbibers stared down state officials and on Tuesday, lawmakers blinked.
Nine Utah liquor stores targeted for closing this summer will stay open at least until February of next year. In addition, store operating hours will not be cut, and more than 100 liquor store employees, slated for layoffs, will keep their jobs.
"There's jubilation in our liquor stores — people will have jobs," said John Freeman, deputy director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "We are all delighted and relieved."
Two smaller stores in Utah County likely will still close, in Springville and Spanish Fork. And, the Salt Lake City store on Main Street, shuttered last month, will remain closed.
Gov. Gary Herbert's budget director, Ron Bigelow, says legislative leaders have approved using $1.4 million budgeted or DABC construction projects instead to keep the nine stores running until February. The money became available after several newly constructed stores and remodeled outlets came in under budget.
"I have always supported keeping our profitable state liquor stores open, and my budget called for zero cuts in DABC's budget," Governor Herbert said in a statement. "After the Legislature cut DABC's budget, we identified $1.4 million in agency funds which could be reallocated to delay closure of some of the state liquor stores. I waited to instruct DABC to use the money until we had reached an agreement with legislative leadership."
The move to find more money came after city officials and thousands of residents in Salt Lake, Utah, Summit and Washington counties complained that closing profitable stores would harm economic development and business recovery. Bonds on some of the stores slated for closure would not be paid off until 2025.
Liquor sales put more than $100 million into state and local treasuries each year.
This fall, a legislatively mandated study will be conducted to identify any possible efficiencies or changes that could be made at DABC, said Herbert. After that $100,000 study is conducted, the Legislature "will have to choose whether to appropriate further funds to prevent the closures of the stores."
The study comes on top of a $175,000 audit lawmakers approved last year to find savings in the DABC's budget. Legislative auditors said that stores should be closed, specifically singling out those in Provo, Orem and St. George.
Earlier this year, the Legislature's budget committee also told the DABC to close stores and to shorten store hours.
Republican Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, says closing the profitable stores never made sense, but it was the only thing liquor commissioners proposed when the agency budget was cut this year.
"Everyone throws out the first thing. Are we going to quit building Legacy Highway or Mountain View Corridor? Everyone has something that is going to hit the chopping blocks," Waddoups said. "I believe they thought [closing stores] was one of their options and by throwing it out there we might think that was their only option. We believe they had others."
If the DABC has "such bad managers, that was their only option," he said of the closures.
Liquor control Chairman Sam Granato said the agency has drastically cut programs during the past three years to help make up for ongoing state revenue shortfalls. He said closing profitable liquor outlets and firing liquor employees "made absolutely no sense — and even less so during bad economic times."
Granato voted against closing the now-shuttered Main Street store, which had annual sales of $3 million, with profits of $1.3 million that went to Salt Lake City, the state and school lunch subsidies.
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Liquor outlets likely to close
Spanish Fork • 51 W. 100 North
Springville • 685 S. Main
Stores off the hit list:
Salt Lake City • 402 E. 6th Avenue
Salt Lake City • 1615 Foothill Blvd.
South Salt Lake • 63 E. Miller Ave.
Midvale ยป 7598 S. Main St.
Provo • 166 S. Freedom Blvd.
Orem • 1688 N. State St.
St. George • 929 W. Sunset St.
Park City • 460 Swede Alley
Helper • 68 S. Main St.