By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



The state’s lawmakers returned to Montgomery this week after Gov. Bob Riley called a special session to deal with the county’s financial crisis.

The 12-to-30 day session, which will reportedly cost Alabama taxpayers at least $110,000, is specifically aimed at creating a new occupational tax and stricter accountability measures for the Jefferson County Commission.

The new bill would tax all county employees 0.45 percent. The tax is now 0.5 percent, but some professionals who pay license fees are exempt.

As of Tuesday, two bills dealing with the tax and county accountability had been voted out of a House committee and were expected to be in the hands of a Senate committee by Thursday. The bills will likely be debated on the Senate floor by Friday.

Two of north Jefferson County’s lawmakers — Sen. Scott Beason, R-17th and Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-51st — said they had doubts about the strength of the bills, particularly in terms of accountability. The bill calls for a county manager and a comptroller.

Beason, who said he is not fond of the tax, said one of his concerns is the reluctance by some fellow senators to phase out the tax. The bill would require a referendum in two years to give residents a chance to vote on whether or not to keep the tax.

“If the people vote to phase it out, it has to go away,” Beason said. “The county commission would never vote to get rid of it.”

Beason also described the accountability measure as a “watered down” compromise. “If it doesn’t pass, all bets are off and the county will have to live within its means, which may be a good thing,” he said.

Treadaway said it’s too early to tell if the measures will pass. He’s concerned that the way the bill is written may give an additional $25 million per year to the county.

“Everything in my being tells me that money is to protect them from bankruptcy on the sewer side,” he said. “That means we basically just came down here and passed a non-user fee.”

Treadaway said he feels for county workers who have been placed on unpaid leave because of the financial crisis. However, he said the accountability issue at the county level should carry the same weight as the new tax bill.

“I think it’s possible to achieve a smaller government without laying people off,” he said. “I really feel for these employees, but I have a problem with the occupational tax; it’s a bad tax.”