HB299 Alabama 2019 Session

Relating to Montgomery County, to authorize the Montgomery County Commission to levy and collect a rental tax against the lessees or renters of tangible personal property; to make legislative findings; to establish maximum rates of the rental tax; to provide that the rental tax is a direct tax on the lessee or renter though required to be collected by the lessor or vendor; to provide that the rental tax is not a gross receipts tax in the nature of a sales tax; to provide for exemptions from the tax; to provide for the collection, administration, and enforcement of the rental tax; to provide that the rental tax constitutes a debt due Montgomery County and may be collected in a civil suit, in addition to all other methods provided by law and in this act; to provide that the rental tax, together with any interest and penalties with respect thereto, shall constitute and be secured by a lien on the property of any person from whom the tax is due or who is required to collect the tax; to provide that state law that applies to the enforcement of liens for privilege, license, or excise taxes due to the state shall apply to the collection of the rental tax; to provide for the administration and collection of the rental tax at the same time and in the manner as the state rental tax is collected; to provide for the collection and enforcement of the rental tax by Montgomery County or a third party; to provide that the state rental tax statutes and related rules, and any other statutes that apply to or affect the administration and collection of the state rental tax, shall apply to the rental tax to the extent they are not inconsistent with the act; to require the rental tax to be added to the rental price and collected from the lessee or renter; to provide for the effective date for any levy of the rental tax; to provide that the rental tax received or collected shall be deposited into the county general fund to be expended as determined by the county commission; to provide that the Montgomery County Commission may issue bonds, warrants, or other forms of indebtedness and enter into funding agreements or other obligations with other governmental entities and public corporations and may secure its obligations thereunder with a pledge of the rental tax proceeds; to provide that any pledge of the rental tax proceeds for the payment of bonds, warrants, funding agreements, or other evidences of indebtedness or obligations issued or entered into by the Montgomery County Commission constitutes part of the contract with the holders of the obligations secured thereby and the contract shall be protected from impairment to the fullest extent provided in the federal Constitution and the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to provide that any debt obligations of Montgomery County payable from or secured by the rental tax proceeds shall be issued under the general laws of the state available for such purposes; to provide that the Montgomery County Commission shall have the further power to designate as the agent of Montgomery County any other governmental entity or public corporation in the state heretofore or hereafter organized to undertake any purpose as the Montgomery County Commission shall determine utilizing proceeds of the rental tax; to provide that when such a governmental entity or public corporation shall be so designated, the proceeds of the rental tax (or so much thereof as shall be allocated to the entity so designated) thereafter collected shall be paid over to it and shall be used by it for the purposes specified by the Montgomery County Commission for which the tax is herein authorized to be levied; to provide that said governmental entity or public corporation may anticipate the proceeds from the rental tax so required to be paid to it by issuing, for any of the purposes specified by the Montgomery County Commission for which the tax is herein authorized to be levied, funding or refunding bonds, warrants, certificates of indebtedness or other evidences of indebtedness of such governmental entity or public corporation, and may pledge for the payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon the proceeds from said tax so paid to it; to provide that the designation by the Montgomery County Commission of a governmental entity or public corporation to receive proceeds of the rental tax levied pursuant to this act, the payment of such proceeds over to the governmental entity or public corporation and the pledge of such proceeds by the governmental entity or public corporation for the payment of the principal of and interest on bonds, warrants, certificates of indebtedness or other evidences of indebtedness issued by such governmental entity or public corporation shall constitute a part of the contract with the holders of said bonds, warrants, certificates of indebtedness or other evidences of indebtedness and such contract shall be protected from impairment to the fullest extent provided by the federal Constitution and the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to provide that obligations of such a governmental entity or public corporation payable from or secured by the proceeds of the rental tax shall be issued under the general laws of the state available for those purposes; to provide that, to the extent any provision of Act 89 adopted during the 1975 Fourth Special Session of the Alabama Legislature is inconsistent with any provision of this act, such conflicting provision is superseded and repealed, but only to the extent of the conflict, and that Act 89 of the 1975 Fourth Special Session shall otherwise remain in full force and effect; to provide that Act Number 2017-465 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature is hereby repealed; to provide that public officials and their family members shall not obtain personal gain from rental tax proceeds; to provide that the provisions of this act are severable; to provide for an effective date of the act.