County Commission | The Magazine July 2019

NEWS YOU CAN USE Changes to Sheriffs’ Feeding Accounts Act 2019-133 Sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr & Rep. Rex Reynolds Signed by Gov. Kay Ivey The feeding of county inmates has historically been the personal responsibility of the county sheriff due to a long-standing ambiguity in state law that allowed sheriffs to pocket the surplus monies remaining in their feeding fund account. This new law establishes a statewide process to ensure all feeding monies are treated as public funds and to clarify the sheriff is not personally responsible for any shortfall in the feeding account. The law creates a Prisoner Feeding Fund in each sheriff’s office and requires feeding monies to be received and disbursed separately from the other office funds. Among other changes, the new law also increases the state’s portion of the county inmate feeding allowance from $1.75 to $2.25 per prisoner per day. Effective August 1, 2019. ï Amending the County Debt Set-Off Program Act 2019-184 Sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson & Rep. Wes Allen Signed by Gov. Kay Ivey 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 now ensures county healthcare authorities may continue to participate in the program, even if they contract with an outside entity to provide financial or administrative management assistance. Effective May 15, 2019. ï 28 | JULY 2019 Reinstating Right-of-Way Waiver Valuations Act 2019-234 Sponsored by Rep. Corley Ellis & Sen. Billy Beasley Signed by Gov. Kay Ivey The Alabama Department of Transportation and county highway departments have traditionally utilized “waiver valuations” to acquire rights-of-way from private landowners, permitting the departments to reach mutual agreements with private landowners on the purchase price for right-of-way acquisitions. The Federal Highway Administration recently advised that Alabama law did not recognize the federal concept of a waiver valuation. This amendment to the statutory provisions now permits 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. With this new law, counties can continue to utilize this process that has saved them much time and money over the years. Effective May 22, 2019. ï Updating the Simplified Sellers Use Tax Program Act 2019-382 Sponsored by Rep. Rod Scott & Sens. Greg Albritton & Tim Melson Signed by Gov. Kay Ivey 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 Seller Use Tax (SSUT) program; however, technical issues in the law required amending to guarantee compliance with the Court’s ruling. This act amends the law to expand protection from class action lawsuits involving claims for SSUT refunds. It also provides tax amnesty for online sellers for tax periods prior to October 1, 2019, and prohibits 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. Effective June 5, 2019. ï Detention Facilities E-911 Call Centers Office Buildings Courthouses 334.265.8781 www.phjarchitects.com designed 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 gives local government employers until April 2021 to provide their Tier II members with the plan benefits offered to Tier I employees. Any local governments seeking to provide this additional benefit that did not increase the Tier I member contribution rate as provided for in Act 2011-676 must develop a plan to gradually increase the member contribution rates and submit it to the ERS before electing to provide such benefits. The ERS Board of Control is permitted to deny a local government from exercising the authorization in this act if the local government has a history of non-compliance with ERS requirements or if its financial stability is in question. This new 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. Effective May 8, 2019.

County Commission | The Magazine July 2019 | Page 28