The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Thursday increased a fee that liquor companies pay the state, a move intended to help offset the cost of a new warehouse.

The board voted 3-0 to increase the bailment fee from 72 cents per case to $1 per case, effective January 1.

ABC Board Administrator Curtis Stewart said companies pay the bailment fee to compensate the board for storing their products.

The fee was last increased in 2013.

The Retirement Systems of Alabama is building the 250,000-square foot warehouse on Dickinson Drive in Montgomery, across the road from the Gunter Annex of Maxwell Air Force Base.

The total cost is expected to be $98 million, including $35 million for new material handling equipment.

The ABC Board plans to lease the building from the RSA for 20 years

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