County Commission | The Magazine January 2020 | Page 30

FROM THE COVER
to ensure all feeding monies are treated as
public funds and clarified the sheriff is not
personally responsible for any shortfall in the
feeding account. The law created a Prisoner
Feeding Fund in each sheriff’s office and
required feeding monies to be received and
disbursed separately from the other office
funds. Among other changes, the law also
increased the state’s portion of the county
inmate feeding allowance from $1.75 to
$2.25 per prisoner per day.
Alabama County
Quadrennial
Accomplishments
2019 Legislative Session
Accomplishments
Act 2019-382
Updating the Simplified Sellers
Use Tax Program
The 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the
South Dakota v. Wayfair case established a
collection methodology for online sellers that
works well with Alabama’s Simplified Sellers
Use Tax (SSUT) program; however, technical
issues in the law required amending to
guarantee compliance with the Court’s ruling.
This act amended the law to expand protection
from class action lawsuits involving claims for
SSUT refunds. It also provided tax amnesty for
online sellers for tax periods prior to October
1, 2019, and prohibited the collection of the
SSUT on vehicles for which state and local
taxes are required to be collected at the time
of the vehicle’s registration.
Act 2019-184
Amending the County Debt Set-off Program
Over the past several years, the state’s
growing rural healthcare crisis has forced
many small hospitals to contract their
operations over to larger entities. However,
the services provided by these “contractor”
entities did not meet the technical definition
provided in the statute governing the County
Debt Set-Off Program, allowing many of the
debts owed to rural healthcare providers
to go uncollected. The enactment of this
technical amendment to the authorizing
statute ensured county healthcare authorities
could continue to participate in the program,
even if they contract with an outside entity
to provide financial or administrative
management assistance.
30 | JANUARY 2020
Act 2019-132
Offering Better Local Retirement Benefits
Local government entities participating in
the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS)
now have the option to shift their existing
Tier II employees to the more attractive
benefits package afforded to local employees
hired prior to 2013. The law granted local
government employers until April 2021 to
provide their Tier II members with the plan
benefits offered to Tier I employees. The law
will allow local entities to remain competitive
in the job market and retain talented
employees. It does not impact state revenue
and is expected to reduce costs for many
counties, cities and local entities.
Act 2019-70
Utilizing Next-Generation
9-1-1 Technology
The Alabama Next Generation Emergency
Network (ANGEN) is a communication
technology system designed to streamline
the routing process for 9-1-1 calls, reduce
costs for 9-1-1 districts, and improve
accuracy and redundancy issues in the
current system. While the State 9-1-1 Board
had been administering the program since
2013, it was given clear statutory authority
to administer ANGEN under this act. The
law further made a number of technical
amendments to the general powers of the
Board, enabling it to more effectively provide
critical services and support to the state’s
9-1-1 districts.
Act 2019-133
Changing Sheriffs’ Feeding Accounts
This law established a statewide process
Act 2019-2
Improving County Infrastructure Through
Increased Fuel Taxes
Passed during the first special session
of 2019, this law increased Alabama’s
gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 10 cents
per gallon through 2021. The first increase
of 6 cents became effective September 1,
2019 — bringing the state’s total excise
tax on gasoline to $0.24 per gallon. An
additional two cents will be added on
October 1, 2020, and again on October 1,
2021. Under this law, counties became able
to save time and stretch their dollars by
swapping their federal funds for $400,000
in state funds — and also participate in a
$10-million local government grant program
and a $30-million to $50-million, pay-as-
you-go ATRIP-II program.
Act 2019-234
Reinstating Right-of-Way Waiver
Valuations
This amendment to the statutory provisions
granted the use of waiver valuations if (1)
the property owner is donating the property
and releases the state or political subdivision
from its appraisal obligations or (2) the
state or political subdivision, with the written
consent of the property owner, determines
an appraisal is not necessary and the
anticipated property value is equal to or less
than the amount in the applicable federal
regulation — which is currently $10,000.
Under this law, counties were given the
authority to continue utilizing a process that
has saved them much time and money over
the years. n