Alabama’s 463 cities and towns are in the virus crisis queue for their share of the $1.9 billion the CARES Act appears to have targeted for Alabama.
According to the Congressional relief act, 55 percent of that total will go to the state, with 45 percent expected to go to local governments, through the state. It’s up to Governor Kay Ivey and her administration to decide how to distribute that local share.
To help with that decision, the Alabama League of Municipalities recently formed a 10-member Stimulus Task Force to help Ivey formulate and “fair and equitable way to recommend distribution of Congress’ promised relief money.”
“Alabama is a state of mostly small and mid-size communities that rely on sales, use and lodgings taxes, as well as rental and motor fuel revenue streams, to provide critical quality of life services to our citizens,” said League President Mayor Ronnie Marks of Athens.
Members of the task force are considering all streams of revenue where their communities are experiencing the greatest loss – particularly sales and use taxes, motor fuel taxes, lodgings taxes and rental taxes, says the League’s April 8 press release.
Serving on the 10-member task force are: Mayor Ronnie Marks, Athens and ALM President; Mayor Leigh Dollar, Guntersville and ALM Vice-President; Councilmember Adam Bourne, Chickasaw and Chair of ALM’s Committee on State and Federal Legislation; Mayor Gary Fuller, Opelika; Mayor Tony Haygood, Tuskegee; Mayor Walt Maddox, Tuscaloosa; Mayor Mark Saliba, Dothan; Mayor Robert Craft, Gulf Shores; Councilmember Bridgett Jordan-Smith, Vincent; Mayor Hollie Cost, Montevallo.
