DODGE CITY — The second town hall meeting called by proponents of a revision to the county’s sales tax revenue distribution laws was, like the first meeting, largely a galvanizing session for the few who’ve so far expressed enthusiasm for the idea.

And, like the first meeting, the exploration of how a new plan would redistribute municipal wealth in Cullman County remained light on specifics, and heavy on generalities.

That’s something supporters like West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo hope to change between now and the start of the 2013 legislative session.

“The next step is, we need to have the mayors’ association maybe come up with a committee or a panel to research this thing further and take it to the next step,” said Kilgo. “The law says that it should be reviewed every 10 years with the Census, and I think it’s fair to ask that from our legislators. We need to just look at everything that caused a demographic shift, and see where we go from there.”

Thursday’s meeting, held at the Dodge City community center, drew only about 10 more people than the 15 or so who attended the first town hall event, held May 10 at West Point.

More local leaders attended the second meeting, with Dodge City, West Point, Colony, Vinemont, Holly Pond and the Cullman County Commission all represented. The City of Cullman, which could potentially see its municipal coffers devastated by a substantial change in local revenue distribution, wasn’t represented. No local legislators were present, either.

Kilgo and other supporters seemed to back away from the true population-based revenue distribution proposal that was pitched — and approved by resolution — to several towns earlier this year, saying the City of Cullman’s financial needs are too complex to ask that it forego an estimated $8 million per year the city currently receives.

Under the original population-based idea, roughly the same amount would be added to the county commission’s annual sales tax revenue allotment.

“Cullman bears more expenses than the remainder of us, and I believe that, whatever resolution we come to in this, that Cullman is entitled. They are our commerce center. They pay around $350,000 a year — the city and county each pay it — to the hospital board to help offset the cost of indigent care. None of the rest of the municipalities contribute to any of that.

“It’s a similar arrangement between the city and the county that helps support our regional airport,” he added. “And, Cullman has streets to maintain, and street lights, and a  professional police force and a fire department. So you’ve got to be fair and you’ve got to look at this thing realistically.”

He did, however maintain his long-held view that Cullman’s share of the county’s total sales tax revenue pie is out of proportion with what other towns, as well as the county commission, receive.

“We went over the sales tax revenues for December 2011 — just as an example — and it came out to $62 per person in the city and $31 per person in the municipalities. Unincorporated Cullman County only got $12 per person. I’m not trying to start a war with the City of Cullman; they’re our crown jewel, but we just want it to be distributed a little more equitably.”

It’s a view that doesn’t take into account the fact that the majority of those dollars, whether apportioned at $62 for Cullman residents or $12 for their rural counterparts, come from retail businesses whose owners elected to set up shop squarely within the Cullman city limits.

Associate county commissioner Darrell Hicks questioned the feasibility of asking the county’s retail center to voluntarily get behind an idea that would, essentially, take money away from where it’s earned and dole it to places where, by proportion, it’s not.

“Believe me, I’d love for us [the county commission] to start getting $8 million a year,” said Hicks. “But the question I have is: What, specifically are y’all going to come up with? Because, looking at the way I’ve seen it up ‘til now, surely it won’t fly. If you go to the legislature, you’re gonna have to have a plan.”

Kilgo embraced Hicks’ alternative suggestion: to phase in any change in how sales tax money is distributed over time, allowing each of the county’s 12 local governments to plan for the changes.

“That’s what we’re looking for; that’s exactly the idea,” said Kilgo. “It’s not to hurt anybody or to enrich anybody — it’s to find a way to do this in a manner that everybody can get behind.”



* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.







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