HB495

ENROLLED, An Act,

Relating to Baldwin County; to amend Sections 45-2-244.071, 45-2-244.073, 45-2-244.075, 45-2-244.076, and 45-2-244.077 of the Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the special county sales tax; to correct the name of Faulkner State Junior College to its current name of Coastal Alabama Community College and to provide that the funds distributed to the college from the proceeds of the tax shall only be used in Baldwin County; to further provide for the distribution of a portion of the proceeds to the county general fund, the county board of education, the county juvenile court, and the district attorney's office; to provide for the administration, collection, and enforcement of the one percent sales tax by the county commission or other person, firm, or corporation, whether public or private, with which the county commission may contract to collect the tax; to provide for the application and promulgation of laws, rules, and regulations related to the administration, collection, enforcement, payment, and assessment of the one percent sales tax; to provide that if the tax is rescinded, repealed, or no longer collected under certain circumstances, the distributions to the Baldwin County Board of Education and the general fund of the county shall be modified; and to provide for the effective date of the act.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. Sections 45-2-244.071, 45-2-244.073, 45-2-244.075, 45-2-244.076, and 45-2-244.077 of the Code of Alabama 1975 are amended to read as follows:

§45-2-244.071.

"All words, terms, and phrases as defined in Sections 40-23-1, 40-23-2, 40-23-3, and 40-23-4, as amended, providing for the levy of a state sales tax shall, wherever used in this subpart, have the same meanings respectively ascribed to them in the sections, except where the context herein clearly indicates a different meaning. In addition, the following words, terms, and phrases where used in this subpart shall have the following respective meanings except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

"(1) "State sales tax statutes" means Sections 40-23-1, 40-23-2, 40-23-3, and 40-23-4, as amended, which levy a certain retail sales tax, and include all statutes, including amendments to those sections, which expressly set forth any exemptions from the computation of the tax levied by the sections and all other statutes which expressly apply to, or purport to affect, the administration of the sections and the incidence and collection of the tax imposed therein;

"(2) "State sales tax" means the tax imposed by the state sales tax statutes;

"(3) "Month" means the calendar month;

"(4) "County" means Baldwin County.

"(1) COUNTY. Baldwin County.

"(2) MONTH. The calendar month.

"(3) STATE SALES TAX. The tax imposed by the state sales tax statutes, including, but not limited to, Sections 40-23-1, 40-23-2, 40-23-3, and 40-23-4.

§45-2-244.073.

"The sales taxes authorized to be levied in Section 45-2-244.072 shall be due and payable in monthly installments on or before the twentieth day of the month next succeeding the months month in which the tax accrues. All taxes levied in this subpart shall be paid to and collected by the State Department of Revenue county commission at the same time and along with the collection of the state sales tax. On or prior to the due dates of the tax herein levied each person subject to such tax shall file with the State Department of Revenue county commission a report or return in such form as may be prescribed by the department county commission, setting forth, with respect to all sales and business transactions that are required to be used as a measure of the tax levied, a correct statement of the gross proceeds of all such sales and gross receipts of all such business transactions. Such report shall also include such other items of information pertinent to the said tax and the amount thereof as the State Department of Revenue county commission may require. Any person subject to the tax levied may defer reporting credit sales until after their collection, and in the event such a person so defers reporting them, such the person shall thereafter include in each monthly report all credit collections made during the month preceding, and shall pay the tax due thereon at the time of filing such report. All reports or returns filed with the State Department of Revenue under this section shall be available for inspection by the Baldwin County Commission, or its designated agent, at reasonable times during business hours.

§45-2-244.075.

"The tax authorized to be imposed by this subpart shall constitute a debt due Baldwin County and may be collected as provided by law. The tax, together with interest and penalties with respect thereto, shall constitute and be secured by a lien upon the property of any person from whom the tax is due or who is required to collect the tax. All of the provisions of the revenue laws of this state which apply to the enforcement of liens for license taxes due to this state shall apply fully to the collection of the tax herein levied, and the State Department of Revenue, for the use and benefit of Baldwin County shall collect such tax and enforce this subpart and shall have and exercise for such collection and enforcement all rights and remedies that this state or the department has for collection of the state sales tax. The State Department of Revenue shall have full authority to employ such special counsel as it deems necessary from time to time to enforce collection of the tax levied by this subpart, and to otherwise enforce the provisions of this subpart, including any litigation involving this subpart; and the department shall pay such special counsel such fees as it deems necessary and proper from the proceeds of the tax collected by it for Baldwin County.

"The tax authorized to be imposed by this subpart shall constitute a debt due Baldwin County and may be collected as provided by law. The tax, together with interest and penalties with respect thereto, shall constitute and be secured by a lien upon the property of any person from whom the tax is due or who is required to collect the tax. All of the provisions of the revenue laws of this state which apply to the enforcement of liens for license taxes due to this state shall apply fully to the collection of the tax herein levied, and the Baldwin County Commission, for the use and benefit of Baldwin County, shall collect such tax and enforce this subpart and shall have and exercise for such collection and enforcement all rights and remedies that this state or the state Department of Revenue has for collection of the state sales tax. The Baldwin County Commission shall have full authority to employ such special counsel as it deems necessary from time to time to enforce collection of the tax levied by this subpart, and to otherwise enforce the provisions of this subpart, including any litigation involving this subpart; and the Baldwin County Commission shall pay such special counsel such fees as it deems necessary and proper from the proceeds of the tax collected by it pursuant to this subpart.

§45-2-244.076.

"All provisions of the state sales tax statutes with respect to payment, assessment, and collection of the state sales tax, making of reports and keeping and preserving records with respect thereto, penalties for failure to pay the tax, the promulgation of the rules and regulations with respect to the state sales tax, and the administration and enforcement of the state sales tax statutes, which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subpart when applied to the tax authorized to be levied in Section 45-2-244.072 shall apply to the county tax levied under this subpart. The county commission The State Commissioner of Revenue and the State Department of Revenue shall have and exercise the same powers, duties, and obligations with respect to the county tax levied under this subpart that are imposed on such commissioner and department, respectively, by the state tax statutes. the state Revenue Commissioner and department, respectively, by the state tax statutes. All provisions of law from time to time in effect with respect to the payment, assessment, and collection of the state sales tax, and any and all reports, records, and penalties for failure to pay such taxes, the promulgation of rules and regulations with respect to such taxes, and the administration and enforcement of such taxes or such provisions of law (as the case may be), shall, to the extent not inconsistent with the act adding this amendatory language, apply to the county sales tax. All provisions of the state sales tax statutes that are made applicable by this subpart to the county tax levied under this subpart and to the administration and enforcement of this subpart are hereby incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof as if fully set forth herein. The county sales tax, as the county commission may from time to time determine, shall be collected either by the county commission or by any person, firm, or corporation (whether public or private) with which the commission may contract to collect the county sales tax or any other tax or taxes levied by, or in, the county, all in accordance with, and subject to, applicable provisions of law as are from time to time in effect.

§45-2-244.077.

"The county commission shall be authorized to charge an amount not less than two percent nor more than five percent of the special county tax collected in the county under this subpart for collecting the special county tax. In order to charge more than two percent of the special county tax for collecting the tax, the county commission and the Baldwin County Board of Education shall be required to agree upon such additional percentage for collection. The State Department of Revenue shall charge Baldwin County for collecting the special county tax levied under this subpart such amount or percentage of total collections as may be agreed upon by the Commissioner of Revenue and the Baldwin County Commission, but such charge shall not, in any event, exceed 10 percent of the total amount of the special county tax collected in said county under this subpart. Such charge for collecting such special tax may be deducted each month from the gross revenues from such special tax before certification of the amount of the proceeds thereof due Baldwin County for that month. The Commissioner of Revenue shall pay into the State Treasury all tax collected under this subpart, as such tax is received by the Department of Revenue, and on or before the first day of each successive month (commencing with the month following the month in which the department makes the first collection hereunder) the commissioner shall certify to the State Comptroller the amount of tax collected under the provisions of this subpart and paid by him or her into the State Treasury for the benefit of Baldwin County during the month immediately preceding such certification. Provided, however, that before certifying the amount of the tax paid into the State Treasury for the benefit of Baldwin County during each month, the commissioner may deduct from the tax collected in the month the charge due the department for the collection of the tax for the county. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to issue his or her warrant each month payable to the County Treasurer of Baldwin County in his or her official capacity in an amount equal to the amount so certified by the Commissioner of Revenue as having been collected for the use of the county. All Prior to any other distribution, two percent of all net revenues herein collected shall be appropriated to the Juvenile Court for Baldwin County to be used for drug interdiction and education programs; staffing; and the leasing, building, staffing, and operation of a home for juveniles; and one percent of all net revenues collected shall be appropriated to the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office to be expended for education and intervention programs, with emphasis on grades kindergarten through 12, aimed at the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, bullying and other issues, and for other prosecution services. After the distribution to the Juvenile Court and District Attorney's Office as provided in this section, the remaining net revenues arising from the taxes herein authorized to be levied shall be distributed as follows: (1) 55 40 percent shall be distributed to the Baldwin County Board of Education to be utilized exclusively for capital improvement, capital construction, and maintenance purposes; (2) five percent shall be distributed to Faulkner State Junior Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette to and shall be used only in the county as other appropriations to the school are used; and (3) 40 55 percent shall be deposited in the general fund of the county to be expended as other county funds provided that not less than 20 percent of the proceeds shall be expended for road and bridge construction, capacity improvements, paving, resurfacing, and/or maintenance of roads and bridges. Provided, however, in the initial fiscal year that this sales tax is levied, prior to any distribution provided herein, a one-time disbursement of two percent of all revenues arising from the tax shall be appropriated for the erection of a suitable county animal pound as provided in Section 3-7-7. The one-time two percent appropriation shall be made only during the fiscal year that the sales tax provided by this subpart is implemented. Effective for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1984, and each fiscal year thereafter, prior to any other distribution, two percent of all net revenues herein collected shall be appropriated to the Juvenile Court for Baldwin County to be used for the leasing or building, staffing, and operation of a home for juveniles. Should the county commission rescind or repeal the one percent sales tax the county commission enacted by Resolution #2017-046 on January 3, 2017, or should the collection of the one percent sales tax be discontinued for any reason, the percentages of the sales tax distributed to the general fund of the county and the Baldwin County Board of Education shall return to 40 percent for the general fund of the county and 55 percent for the Baldwin County Board of Education, unless the county commission, in its sole authority and without further condition, levies and collects a one percent sales tax, exclusively for public school purposes, as a replacement, or the Baldwin County Board of Education consents to such action by the passage of a resolution."

Section 2. This act shall become effective on the first day of June 2018.

Baldwin County

Taxation

Counties

County Funds

Revenue Department

Code Amended