County Commission | The Magazine May 2019 | Page 10

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10-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. (A
modest fee was also established to ensure that electric
vehicles are contributing to the upkeep of transportation
infrastructure.)
The governor spoke of benefitting “generations to
come,” a reference to the indexing feature of the new
fuel tax. There is a mechanism to adjust the tax rate
along with inflation, and these adjustments are limited
in amount and frequency.
A few onlookers complained that the legislation
moved too quickly, but work had been ongoing for
some time. Brasfield tweeted:
@SonnyBrasfield (March 12, 2019): 4 years of
hard work came together in a new law with more
accountability & review than any other revenue
measure in my memory. Without political courage,
the Rebuild Alabama Act would still be beyond our
grasp. #alpolitics #67ONE @GovernorKayIvey
@GoBillPoole @Clyde_Chambliss
The legislation had unequivocal support from Senate
President Pro Tem Del Marsh and House Speaker Mac
McCutcheon, who had personally sponsored similar
legislation a few years prior. In 2019, the sponsor was
Rep. Bill Poole of Tuscaloosa County, and Sen. Clyde
Chambliss of Autauga County steered it through the
Senate. Chambliss served a dozen years on the Autauga
County Commission beginning in the mid-1990s.
In their tweets, Ivey and Brasfield referred to
boldness and political courage, essential ingredients that
would have been in short supply without the tireless
work of county officials and employees.
“This would not have happened without county
government, without you working hard at the local
level, making contacts and promoting this issue,”
said Brasfield after the bill signing. “Everybody in
county government should be extremely proud today.
Counties were in the midst of all the activities here
in Montgomery, and Gov. Ivey has given counties an
enormous amount of credit.”
It’s hard to know where to begin explaining what
counties did, but one of the simplest things was also
the most profound — people drove to Montgomery to
be present in the Statehouse at every step of the
special session.
“Every communication with a legislator matters, but
nothing says ‘road funding is critically important to my
county’ like interrupting your schedule and showing up
in person,” Brasfield said. n
10 | MAY 2019
Rebuild Alabama Implementation
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Rebuild Alabama Act into law on
March 12, and counties began working on implementation
within hours.
“Our pledge is to uphold the confidence placed in us by Gov.
Ivey and the 111 members of the Alabama Legislature who
voted in favor of the Rebuild Alabama Act and made this
possible,” said Sonny Brasfield, ACCA Executive Director,
that evening. “Counties will be efficient and responsible with
new funds.”
Time is short, since the comprehensive act has numerous,
separate deadlines for various provisions to take effect. In
fact, the increased salary reimbursement for county engineers
and assistant engineers kicked in on April 1. The ATRIP-II
Committee, charged with administering one of two new annual
grant programs, had to have its first meeting no later than
early May.
Distribution of dollars from the phased-in fuel tax increase will
begin no later than January 2020, and many administrative
tasks must be done before asphalt trucks roll or demolition day
begins for any of the nearly 4,000 bridges that have passed
their 50th birthdays.
ACCA assembled a Rebuild Alabama “Implementation
Team” of county engineers to develop policies, procedures
and documents required for counties to meet requirements
of the act – including a framework for fulfilling the robust
accountability requirements.
The team’s “to do” list includes helping counties through
the federal aid exchange, creating uniform bid procedures,
fleshing out specifics on permissible uses of Rebuild Alabama
funds, creating accounting procedures for these dollars, and
developing forms and templates for necessary documents.
The team is also working in cooperation with the Department
of Examiners of Public Accounts and Department of
Transportation where needed.
Some implementation details were released in May, during the
conferences of the Association of County Engineers of Alabama
and the Association of County Administrators of Alabama.
Additional information is slated for release at the ACCA
Convention in August.