County Commission | The Magazine February 2017 | Page 20

FROM THE COVER
Board of Registrars
Alabama law provides that members of the board
of registrars are to be appointed by the Governor,
State Auditor, and Commissioner of Agriculture and
Industries. There is little uniformity in the day-to-day
duties performed by each registrar and no statutorily
required state or local oversight over the registrars’
work hours, qualification requirements or voter
registration procedures.
Under the direction of the Secretary of State, a
Board of Registrars Study Commission was convened
to address possible revisions to the current system. The
Association proposes reforms to the current Board of
Registrars system that would provide the following:
• Registrars must work at least 4 hour per day
• Those persons appointed must meet minimal
standards for appointment to the corresponding
state job classification that most closely aligns
with registrar duties.
• That an official or commission at the local or
state level be authorized to supervise the daily
operation of the registrar office.
Simplified Sellers Use Tax
The Simplified Sellers Use Tax Remittance Act,
established in 2015 by the Association and other
stakeholders, allows eligible online sellers to remit
the use tax on items delivered into Alabama on their
customers’ behalf. Participation in the program is
limited to sellers that do not have a physical presence
in this state and are not currently subject to the
requirements for collecting and remitting sales and use
tax that otherwise would not be collected in Alabama.
The Simplified Sellers Use Tax Remittance Act has
continued to see increased revenues since its enactment,
and will potentially provide millions to the State,
counties and municipalities in the coming years.
The Association, in coordination with the
Department of Revenue, proposes to support
legislation to amend the Act to make the following
minor improvements:
• Allow monthly distributions to local
governments rather than the current quarterly
distributions
• Allow disclosure of participating company names
• Eliminate the 6 month deferral language for
eligible sellers to promote in-state economic
development
20 | COUNTY COMMISSION
• Provide retail reporting obligation for remote
sellers, with an exemption for those companies
remitting simplified sellers use tax or sales tax on
transactions.
Clarifying Official Authorized
to Settle Tax Appeal Cases
During the 2016 regular session, the Association
passed legislation to allow Alabama counties to hire
outside counsel to address the “Dark Store Litigation”
occurring across the state. This legislation also allows
the county commission to appropriate funds from
the county’s reappraisal budget to pay for this legal
representation.
The law is still unclear about which official is
authorized to approve the settlement of such property
tax appeals. This has created challenges on the local
level as to which official has the authority to settle or
proceed with litigation. The Association proposes to
introduce legislation clarifying that only the elected
local tax official may approve the settlement of lawsuits
challenging the appraised value of property for ad
valorem cases.
Uniform Procedure for Funds from Tax Sales
There are inconsistencies in the law on the proper
procedures for the placement of excess funds from real
estate tax sales, including when and how the excess
funds are to be deposited to the credit of the county
general fund as well as when and how those funds may
be redeemed by the owner.
Under current law, after the three-year period
following a tax sale, a county commission must deposit
any excess funds from the tax sale to the credit of the
county’s general fund account. If an authorized party
fails to properly redeem the property within 10 years of
the tax sale, any excess funds (including interest earned)
then become the property of the county.
The Association proposes legislation that clarifies that
this standard would be applied to all funds currently held
by a county, regardless of when the tax sale took place.
Additionally, the legislation would also affirm, validate,
and ratify any prior action taken by a county regarding
the placement of those excess funds.