CULLMAN — Voters may have passed the amendment to dip into the Alabama Trust Fund to stabilize the ailing state budget for the next three years — but for local elected officials anxious to see what happens next, the real work begins today.

Cullman Mayor Max Townson said the referendum was confusing for many, and was a “tough decision” regardless of the approach. But, in the end, he voted “Yes” — if only to give Gov. Robert Bentley and the state legislature some breathing room to solve the budget crisis.

“I voted for it to try and give them the opportunity to get it straightened out,” he said. “Sometimes, when you look at government, you have to look at the surplus and see what you need to do. It’s called a rainy day fund, and its a rainy day situation. I think we’ll all be watching the governor and elected officials in Montgomery to see how they start getting this budget straightened out. It’s on their shoulders, and they don’t need to wait four more years to solve it.”

Townson noted that the short-term influx won’t fix the lingering funding issues at the center of the budget struggles, but said state officials should look into potentially increasing some “sin” and property taxes to cover the shortfall.

“I think you’ll have to increase the tax base either through additional taxes, be it by toll roads, cigarette tax, or an overall tobacco or alcohol tax increase,” he said. “We need to do whatever we have to do to shore up the general fund. I mean, if looked at with the rest of the nation, Alabama has a very low property tax. I don’t know if I’d want to tax corporations if they’re bringing in jobs and industry, but you may need to increase property taxes somehow.”

Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail said he had “mixed emotions” on the vote, but now that it’s passed, he hopes legislators will take advantage of the opportunity to make some lasting changes.

“I just hope now that they’ll do what’s best for Alabama and help us move forward,” he said. “The people have spoken, so let’s use the money — I just hope we use it wisely.”

Cullman County Commission Chairman James Graves noted his main concern has been the impact borrowing would have on the county. He said the county has received roughly $300,000 per year from the trust fund. The money is issued on a set percentage of the capital gains. The state’s General Fund receives 69 percent while counties, municipalities and the Forever Wild program each get 10 percent. Another 1 percent is designated to senior services.

"This is money that was set aside years ago when Fob James was Governor," Graves said. "It was set up in a principal amount, and worked like a charm, but now our legislature and them are looking to borrow some more from it, and of course will all the royalties decreasing down there in the gulf with drilling and so forth, I don't see how they can possibly pay the money back if we're this short already. You're going to deprive us of a good source of income by doing that."

He added he feels the county was short changed by this in a number of ways.

“We didn’t get a copy of the bill until last Wednesday,” Graves said. “And I was surprised at some of the things it included.”

One of those things Graves pointed out was a newly appointed board that would oversee the amounts of money distributed to different towns, cities, and counties.

“I just don’t understand why it was necessary right now,” Graves said. “None of this was ever mentioned, and I feel a little bothered. I accept it passed, but I’m apprehensive of what’s going to happen down the road. I hope good will come out of it, but I’m not totally convinced until I see how this is going to play out in Montgomery.”

As Director of Cullman County’s Commission on Aging, Randall Shedd said his agency gets very little funding from the state, but with Tuesday’s passage of the vote, he’s hoping it will generate a little more.

“We do have specialty projects we’re going to be after with the state and hopefully this will make it easier for us to get,” Shedd said.

Most importantly Shedd said the debate on whether to borrow from the trust fund or not can finally be put to bed.

“The seniors have been kind of scared with things of what would happen if it didn’t pass,” Shedd said. “So the best thing this does is take away that fear in the hearts and minds of the elderly and disabled across the state.”



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.