Cullman County is calling on the Alabama legislature to approve an additional new lodging fee that travelers would pay to stay at local hotels, vacation and short-term rentals, campsites and other transient accommodations.

At its regular January meeting, the Cullman County Commission unanimously adopted a resolution in support of the proposal, which, if enacted by the legislature and signed into law by the governor, would add a flat $3 per-day fee to eligible lodging rentals. If approved, the fee would apply at overnight and short-term accommodations located in all of Cullman County, including the city of Cullman.

The city of Cullman already applies a similar $3 per-day lodging fee to rentals within its limits. County officials anticipate the new countywide lodging fee would generate approximately $1 million annually in new revenues, all of which would be available for use at the county commission’s discretion.

Commissioners said that county revenues raised from the daily lodging fee would initially be used to defray the county’s payment on a potential bond issue that, if borrowed, would fund a new-construction replacement for the Cullman County Agricultural Trade Center. After that bond’s full repayment, the commission would then begin applying fee-generated revenues toward the ongoing operation of the Cullman County Parks & Recreation department.

The proposal, they added, would impose a negligible burden on local residents, since lodging taxes and fees are largely paid by visitors to the area. Commissioners also noted that the proposal already has the support of Cullman County’s local legislative delegation — a necessary first step toward drafting a bill for the legislature to consider. By Alabama law, county commissions are not authorized to institute any type of new taxation and must instead entreat the state legislature to enact such measures.

Currently, the commission’s plans to build a new ag center facility are contingent on securing a funding source to offset its cost — and, consequently, on the legislature’s approval of the proposed new lodging fee. The commission abandoned a previous plan to renovate and expand the existing Ag Center at its present location, after weighing the proposal’s overall cost and land use limitations.

In other business at its Jan. 23 regular meeting, the commission:

— Recognized CARTS employee Ralph Laney upon his retirement from 13 years of service with the county.

— Ratified a $2,465,190 tax abatement for a $43 million capital investment project that will refit an existing industry located in the City of Cullman. According to Stanley Kennedy, project manager for the Cullman Economic Development Agency, the project assures the retention of 43 local jobs, under the codename “Project Vance,” for an industry that has operated “for a long time” at its current Cullman location.

— Ratified a separate $186,245 tax abatement for a refitment project at HH Industries, located in southern Cullman County.

— Agreed to seek an opinion from the state attorney general concerning the adoption of Title 3 of the Code of Alabama, relating to the enforcement scope, as well as the threshold of certification necessary to carry out enforcement actions, of county animal control officers. The commission separately authorized Cullman County Animal Control to take the necessary steps to apply for a federal Originating Agency Identifier number, used as a unique identifier for law enforcement agencies within with FBI’s National Crime Information Center system.

— Authorized local matching funds to be used in conjunction with federal funding for the Cullman Area Rural Transportation Service for the 2026 fiscal year. At a required public hearing ahead of the commission’s unanimous approval vote, CARTS director Joyce Echols noted that the county’s annual acceptance of federal CARTS funding comes with no planned changes to current service or to ridership fees. The commission also approved the use of a portion of the inbound federal funding for the replacement of up to 17 CARTS vehicles, with each replacement vehicle meeting the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

— Released a $72,000 letter of credit maintenance bond, originated with a developer in December of 2020, for final acceptance of 1,832 feet of roadway along County Road 2119 into the county road maintenance system.

— Approved the submission of a grant application for Rebuild Alabama road funds for a county road resurfacing project targeted to be done during the upcoming 2025 paving season. Separately, the commission approved the county’s Rebuild Alabama annual report for the 2024 fiscal year.

— Approved the Hunt Insurance Group LLC, at a premium cost of $79,896, to provide catastrophic medical insurance for county inmates.

— Approved a new four-year contract for county administrator John Bullard upon the expiration of his previous four-year agreement with the commission.

— Approved a $16,701 payment for engineering, setup and installation costs for fiber communications capability at the county’s Arkadelphia tower repeater site.

— Ratified a $13,480 purchase order from Trane Heating & Air Conditioning for HVAC work at the Cullman County Detention Center.

— Extend for one year a current bid for concrete pipe to The Shaddix Company, Inc. of Cullman.

— Approved the surplus of six 2024 Kenworth T880 dump trucks, previously used by the county road department, for auction by J.M. Wood Auction Company, Inc.

— Tabled consideration of adjusting the commission’s policy concerning the potential declaration of “blanket” conditions for Cullman County roads and bridges in the event of weather-related hazards or other travel interruptions or emergencies.

— Authorized Chairman Jeff Clemons to sign a contract with Loomis Bros. Circus for performances at the Cullman County Agricultural Center from Jan. 31-Feb. 2.

— Set the speed limit along a portion of County Road 824 at 25 mph.

— Set the speed limit along a portion of County Road 654 to 35 mph.

— Approved the termination of the local emergency that the commission previously had declared at a Jan. 9 emergency meeting ahead of anticipated severe winter weather earlier this month.

— Approved the minutes of the commission’s Dec 17, 2024 regular meeting; its Dec. 30, 2024 specially called meeting; and its Jan. 9, 2025 emergency meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Cullman County Commission will be Thursday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in the commission meeting room of the Cullman County Courthouse. A public 4 p.m. work session will precede the meeting at the same location.

Benjamin Bullard may be reached by email at ben.bullard@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 234.