Local News - Aug. 20, 2002

By Brett Clanton
Montgomery Advertiser

Holtville resident Woody Snell made a decision Monday when he learned Montgomery County commissioners had passed a new occupational tax – he would spend no more money in the Capital City.

Snell, a commuter to Montgomery for the last eight years, said he won’t be shopping in Montgomery stores anymore.

“I feel very strongly they’re doing the wrong thing,” he said of the commission’s decision to levy a 1.5 percent income tax on city workers regardless of where they live. The tax is expected to raise $45 million for Montgomery County schools. Since he couldn’t vote against the measure, Snell said boycotting Montgomery stores is the only thing he knows to do short of filing a lawsuit against the county.

While Montgomery County residents who work in Montgomery also will pay the tax, residents of other counties who work in the Capital City have felt the most wounded by the tax plan. They claim they are being asked to support schools that their children do not attend.

Elmore County Commission members have been among the loudest critics of the plan, given roughly half of Elmore County’s 30,000-strong workforce draws paychecks from jobs in Montgomery and would be required to pay the occupational tax.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Elmore County Commissioner Joe Faulk of the decision to approve the tax on Monday. “I feel like they could have come up with other ways to generate revenue.”

Faulk said the commission is ready to support a court challenge to the tax.

“We did all we could do to stop it,” Elmore County Commissioner Earl Reeves said. “The only thing we can do now is to go to our legislative delegation to make sure this never happens again.”

State legislators representing Elmore County have vowed to sponsor legislation this March making it illegal for cities and counties to impose occupational taxes on other cities or counties. The legislators also are considering a bill to allow more state buildings to locate outside the capital since so many state workers have no choice but to work in Montgomery and no choice but to pay the occupational tax.

Autauga County Commission Chairman Clyde Chambliss tried to take a pragmatic view of the tax, saying that while it “certainly affects our citizens in a negative way,” an occupational tax in Montgomery could help drive more business to Prattville.

Prattville Mayor Jim Byard echoed the sentiment.

“I feel like it will benefit local retailers and attribute to our growth, with more people staying at home to shop,” Byard said.

Prattville resident Melody Carpenter, for one, said her days of shopping in Montgomery are over now that the occupational tax plan has passed.

“We won’t buy another meal in Montgomery, go to another movie, buy another gallon of gas or buy anything else on that side of the river. If I can’t get it at home, I’ll order it on the Internet.”

But Jeffery Brown, an engineer with the state department of transportation and a Lowndes County resident, said if the money raised from an occupational tax is going for schools – in Montgomery or anywhere else in the state – he won’t complain.

“Now that it’s passed, let’s use it wisely and get the biggest bang for our buck and help our children,” Brown said.