HB 553

Relating to Bibb County; authorizing the county commission to levy an additional sales and use tax; providing for the collection, distribution, and use of the proceeds of the tax; and prescribing penalties and fixing punishment for violations of this act.

Section 1

(a) This act shall apply only to Bibb County. (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is necessary, desirable, and in the best interests of the residents of the county that the Bibb County Commission be provided additional flexibility with respect to its revenue sources and budget and that providing additional funding for public schools, road and bridge construction, maintenance, and for related public safety needs in the county will benefit the public welfare and education of residents of the county. This act shall be liberally construed in conformity with the intentions and findings expressed in this section.

Section 2

As used in this act, the following words have the following meanings: (1) COUNTY. Bibb County. (2) SALES AND USE TAX. A tax imposed by the state sales and use tax statutes and such other acts applicable to Bibb County, including, but not limited to, Article 1 and Article 2 of Chapter 23, Title 40, Code of Alabama 1975.

Section 3

(a) The Bibb County Commission, upon a majority vote of the members, and in addition to all other taxes, is hereby authorized to levy a sales and use tax in an amount up to one percent on sales, use, storage, consumption, or gross receipts in the county. (b) The gross receipts of any business, the gross proceeds of all sales and use of products or services, which are presently exempt under the state sales and use tax statutes are exempt from the tax authorized by this act. (c) Any tax levied under this act may not be levied at a rate proportionately higher than the proportional rate for various types of sales and uses under the state sales and use tax.

Section 4

The tax levied by this act shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as the state sales and use taxes are collected in the county and those sales and use taxes applicable only to the county.

Section 5

Each person engaging or continuing in a business subject to the tax levied by this act shall add to the sales price and collect from the purchaser the amount due by the taxpayer because of the sale or use. It shall be unlawful for any person subjected to the tax to fail or to refuse to add to the sales price and to collect from the purchaser the amount required to be added to the sale pursuant to this act. It shall be unlawful for any person subjected to the tax levied by this act to refund or offer to refund all or any part of the amount collected or to absorb or advertise directly or indirectly the absorption or refund of any portion of the tax.

Section 6

The tax levied by this act shall constitute a debt due Bibb County. The tax, together with any interest and penalties, 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. The county may appoint an agent or agents to collect the tax and shall enforce this act and shall have and may exercise all rights and remedies otherwise currently applicable or which may be provided for in the future for the collection of the sales and use taxes in the county. The county may adopt any rules necessary to provide for the collection and administration of the tax.

Section 7

All existing provisions of the sales and use tax statutes, whether imposed by state statutes or local act applicable to Bibb County, with respect to the payment, assessment, and collection of the sales and use tax, making of reports, keeping and preserving records, penalties for failure to pay the tax, promulgating rules and regulations with respect to the sales and use tax, and the administration and enforcement of the sales and use taxes which are not inconsistent with this act shall apply to the tax levied under this act. The county shall have and exercise the same powers, duties, and obligations with respect to the tax levied under this act as imposed by the existing sales and use tax statutes, whether imposed by state statutes or local act applicable to the county. All provisions of the existing sales and use tax statutes that are made applicable by this act to the tax levied under this act, including any provisions for the administration and enforcement of this act, are incorporated by reference and made part of this act as if fully set forth herein.

Section 8

Notwithstanding the other provisions of this act, the levy of any sales and use tax pursuant to the authority of this act shall not be effective until the county and the Bibb County Commission shall have retired and paid in full, or made irrevocable arrangements for the payment of the principal thereof and the interest thereon to the earliest date on which they may be redeemed, any indebtedness issued to finance public school facilities or educational facilities to which the revenue from the sales and use tax levied by the Bibb County Commission pursuant to Resolution No. 07-06 was pledged and until the levy of the sales and use tax by Resolution No. 07-06 has ceased and terminated, which cessation or termination may occur before or contemporaneously with the effective date of any levy of a sales and use tax pursuant to this act.

Section 9

The proceeds from all taxes collected under this act shall be remitted to Bibb County and deposited in the Bibb County General Fund. Eighty percent of the net proceeds after the cost of collection shall be distributed to the Bibb County Board of Education to be used for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, equipping, and operation of public school facilities, and the board's share of the net proceeds may be pledged as security for the payment of principal and interest on any indebtedness heretofore or hereafter issued to provide public school facilities in the county. The remaining 20 percent of the net proceeds shall be retained by the county and used only for road and bridge construction and maintenance and public safety purposes. Section 10. The provisions of this act are severable. If any part of this act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, that declaration shall not affect the part which remains. Section 11. This act shall become effective immediately on its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.