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RALEIGH – A new Elon University poll says North Carolinians do not want the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control system privatized. Right now, state leaders are looking at ways to make improvements to the way liquor is controlled in North Carolina.

Currently, every aspect of the purchase of alcohol in North Carolina is controlled by the state. The Alcoholic Beverage Control system is run by local governments, which are overseen by a state commission.

Recently, though, there have been splashy headlines of corruption in local ABC boards, from exorbitant salaries to lavish free dinners for board members. Now, North Carolina leaders are looking to see if they need to change the way liquor is handled in the state.

“The public is angry about these examples that show government officials benefiting and enjoying a higher standard of life than they would otherwise because of their government office,” said N.C. ABC Commission Chair Jon Williams.

One option for change is selling off the entire system to private businesses. But a poll released from Elon University on Friday says most people don't like that idea.

When asked who should be in charge of ABC, only nine and a half percent of the people said someone other than government. In fact, most think it should stay the way it is now with state and local government sharing responsibility.

“When looking at these numbers, what really surprised me is that people still want state control and aren't ready to give it over to the private sector,” said poll director Hunter Bacot.

One big question surrounding the idea privatizing ABC is what that would mean for North Carolina's bottom line. The state is currently studying how much the system would be worth if were put up for sale.

One factor to look at is how much revenue it's brought in to the state in the past. In 2009, more than $184,000 was deposited in the state's general fund. Cities and counties got $46,000.

According to the Web site NoDrinkTax.com, North Carolinians pay a lot of alcohol taxes to government. In fact, the state's liquor taxes have accounted for $817 million. In Virginia, another government-run ABC state, over $755 million in taxes have been collected. However, in South Carolina, where the stores are privately run, only $354 million tax dollars have been collected.

All of these numbers are a lot of factors for lawmakers to sort out in their short session this May.

“I think what you are going to see is some relief of the state role, and maybe see some private sectors in the retail sales aspect of it,” says Bacot.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has said that privatizing that state's ABC system is one of his top priorities.