SEDA seeking more power, board changes

The Shoals Economic Development Authority wants the Legislature to approve a plan that would realign its board and give the agency more power, including the ability to issue bonds.

SEDA board members want the local legislative delegation to present a bill to allow the changes. SEDA was created by a legislative act, so the changes would have to be approved by the Legislature.

The plan would reduce the board's membership from 24 to 16.

"Realignment of the board is not the only thing that would be different," SEDA Board Chairman Macke Mauldin said. "It also allows SEDA to take more responsibility and leverage funds for future needs. It makes us more nimble."

That is among several possible local bills for the current legislative session.

House District 2 Rep. Mike Curtis, D-Florence, said the SEDA bill is among three bills regarding local economic development that the local legislative delegation wants to bring up to the Legislature.

One bill would create a Shoals Industrial Development Committee, which would handle money provided by the Shoals Economic Development Fund.

That fund would be created by the passage of additional legislation to increase the sales tax in Lauderdale and Colbert counties by one-half percent.

The money from those funds would be targeted for economic development.

"This is all part of that process," Mauldin said. "It's all part of making SEDA work better."

There has been discussion in recent years about realigning the board to make it more manageable, and this would be an effort to do so.

All of this comes at a time when a rail car manufacturer is looking at the Shoals for a possible industry that would produced some 1,500 jobs.

The half-cent tax increase would help fund incentives for the venture, and provide incentives for future efforts.

The economic development committee would be comprised of local sitting elected officials who would make sure those funds are properly used.

"If we had to list priorities among those three proposals, this would be third on the list," Mauldin said. "The sales tax and industrial development committee would be ahead of this."

State Sen. Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, hopes the three bills are brought up in the current session, which is about halfway through.

The local legislative delegation is pushing for that.

Denton believes the bills will be presented during the current session, provided the Legislature put politics aside in order to move the session forward.

"The dissidents in the Legislature are holding us hostage, and if they kill these bills here and keep us from getting an industry this big, it's going to be blood on their hands," Denton said. "These local bills, I just think it's terrible for a local group to get together and slow us down to where we would lose those.

"This week marks the halfway point of the session, so we still have time."

He said passage of the local bills would be a major move for the Shoals. "It'll put us on the map for future industrial growth."

Under the SEDA proposal, board terms would change from three years to four years.

Each county and city government that now appoints members of the authority -- Lauderdale, Colbert, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Tuscumbia -- will continue to do so.

However, the number of members will be reduced by one-third, so the amount of appointments each governmental agency makes would be reduced by one-third.

Initial terms of office in 2007 will be for one, two, three and four years, beginning Oct. 1.

After that, all terms will be four years.

Initial one-year terms and three-year terms will be appointed by governing bodies in Lauderdale, Colbert, Florence and Muscle Shoals.

Two-year terms and four-year terms will be appointed by governing bodies in Lauderdale, Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia.

The additional powers that would be provided through the legislation include delving into bonds.

"That's really the main issue in there, is the bond issue," Mauldin said.

Other powers would allow the board to: