Mayors say Jones needs to butt out of their cities' business on occupational taxes

Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford has been the loudest voice in opposition to Sen. Andrew Jones' plan to reduce or eliminate the occupational license fee that provides 30% of the city’s general fund income.

And city department heads — mayors’ staff; police and fire; diversity, equity and inclusion; parks and recreation; sanitation; engineering — led the parade of speakers at Thursday’s town hall meeting on the issue at The Venue of Coosa Landing.

However, it was the mayors of the other cities in Etowah County that assess an occupational tax who delivered the most blunt and direct message to Jones, R-Centre: butt out.

“I’m with every mayor here — I think Andrew Jones should stay out of our business,” said Southside’s Dana Snyder, who noted that Jones “made me mad” during a meeting Tuesday between the senator, her and Ford, Attalla’s Larry Means, Glencoe’s Chris Hare and Rainbow City’s Joe Taylor, chief executives of the five Etowah County cities that levy occupational taxes.

Gadsden officials outlined to the large crowd a bleak if not dystopian picture of reduced services to residents and reduced growth opportunities for the city should that tax revenue vanish. The city’s bond counsel indicated that eliminating the tax could impede Gadsden's ability to finance future projects, lower its bond rating and potentially bring litigation from current bondholders.

Still, the other mayors (only Hare was not present) made clear that the concerns aren’t confined to Gadsden’s city limits.

“I’ve heard on social media that Gadsden and us are having a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to this,” said Taylor. “Our constitutional form of government is set up so there’s no overreach; ‘don’t stick your hand in my business.’

“This bill sticks its hand into the business of Rainbow City, Southside, Gadsden, Glencoe and Attalla,” Taylor said. “When you put your hand in there to remove something, I can’t do anything but react in fear because I’ve still got to provide services. Those services are critical.”

Jones tried unsuccessfully during the 2022 legislative session to eliminate occupational taxes in the 25 Alabama cities that levy them with a bill that would phase them out by .10 of a percent annually.

He signaled last week in an interview that he would try again, touching off a controversy that resulted in Tuesday’s meeting with the mayors that reached no solution.

Each of the municipalities in question levies a 2% occupational tax. According to numbers shared by the four mayors who attended the town hall, it brings in $15 million annually in Gadsden (of a total budget of $75 million), $2 million in Rainbow City (of $10 million), $1.8 million in Attalla (of $11 million) and $600,000 in Southside (of $6 million).

Snyder offered specifics on what the tax funds in her city: the school resource officers at Southside High and Southside Elementary schools, some sanitation services and improvements to police and fire protection.

Thomas cited the growth in his city, but added, “... The point at which we’ll stop growing is when you decide to stick your hand in our coffers.

“De-elect me, un-elect me, send me on down the road if we can have one of our state representatives come in and do the job of (our local mayors),” he said.

“It’s overreach. It’s not his business to stick his hand into the business of Rainbow City,” Thomas said. “Leave the sovereignty of my city alone ... .”

Taylor said Jones couldn’t give a good reason at Tuesday’s meeting for getting rid of the tax, other than, “Let’s do this.”

Means said state legislators are supposed to bring money to cities, not take it away from them.

“He (Jones) says he’s fundamentally against occupational taxes,” Means said. “That’s his privilege. He says it’s making people pay to go to work. I told him (Tuesday) that he didn’t mind voting for that gas tax (in 2019) where people have to put gas in their car and go to work.

“Anytime you say something like that to him, there’s no response,” he said. “He cannot defend that.”

Means, a former state senator, and Snyder each apologized for supporting Jones’ initial Senate bid in 2018.

“I’ve never seen a guy who’s just against Etowah County, when he’s supposed to be representing us,” Means said. “I’ve never dealt with anyone like him. Phil Williams (who defeated Means in 2010 and 2014 Senate races), as smart and hard-headed as he is, you could at least sit down and talk with him about things. But before our meeting Tuesday, he (Jones) never sat down with us about this.”

Means said he had nothing personal against Jones, but “this is affecting my city, your city,” adding that removing occupational tax revenue in Attalla would mean not layoffs, but elimination of jobs.

He said Attalla has employed two lobbyists to defend the tax, adding that it’s a shame the city had to hire people “to fight our own state senator.”

However, Means said the mayors are completely unified on this. “We’re together, we’re dug in,” he said. “He’s messing with the wrong bunch on this one.”

Ford said, “When you murmur you have the power to take $15 million out of a $75 million budget, we’re going Defcon 5. We’re going to do everything possible to stop what you’re doing and explain to people why we need these moneys.”

Means and Taylor, from personal experiences, echoed Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority Director David Hooks’ comments that dismissed one of Jones’ expressed issues with the occupational tax, that it impedes economic development.

Each said he’d never heard the subject brought up in the recruitment process. Means said the mayor of Tuskegee, the only other Alabama city with a 2% occupational tax, told him it was never mentioned in his city’s successful pursuit of Samkee, a Tier 1 automotive supplier that announced this month it will locate there.

Greg Bailey is editor of The Gadsden Times. He can be reached at 256-438-9921 or greg.bailey@gadsdentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Mayors united against Jones' efforts to end occupational tax