Talks to begin on imposing sales tax

Commissioners in Colbert and Lauderdale counties will begin discussions this week to determine when they will begin collecting a half-cent sales tax for economic development in the Shoals.

The commissions were given authority to start the tax last week when Gov. Bob Riley signed a bill into law. They must now pass a resolution to begin the collection.

"The thing now is for resolutions to be adopted and passed to impose the sales tax,'' said Chris Smith, attorney for the Lauderdale County Commission. "There's still a lot of work to be done and a lot of communicating that must be done between the two counties in order to move forward with this issue.''

It appears the earliest the half-cent sales tax collection would begin is Sept. 1. That could be delayed another month if commissioners want to wait until the new budget year begins on Oct. 1.

"We need to sit down and discuss when we want to get it started," said Colbert County Commission Chairman Rex Burleson. "We need to determine what works best."

The bill was filed in effort to help the Shoals lure a boxcar plant to the area.

All of the money will go into a fund to be used exclusively for economic development purposes. A group of elected officials, known as the Shoals Industrial Development Committee, must approve all expenditures from the fund.

The pressing issue now is securing money to pay for incentives involved with recruiting the boxcar operation, which is eyeing the Barton Riverfront Industrial Park in Colbert County.

If successful, the project, which has been tabbed Project Tiger by economic developers, will likely employ 1,500 to 1,800 workers and would become the Shoals' largest employer.

Collections could be used for expanding, improving or creating industrial parks in the two-county area as well as other activities related to industrial development.

"People tell us all the time they want us to bring in industries, not just retail jobs and restaurant jobs,"

Burleson said. "This is going to be a great lift for our recruiting efforts. We will have a funding mechanism in place for incentives and infrastructure improvements that are a must when you recruit industries.

"If we're able to land Project Tiger, and negotiations are still going on, it will be one of the biggest industries to come here in many, many years. We couldn't do it had the bill not passed."

Burleson said a dialogue will begin soon among Colbert County commissioners and they will also want to know the thoughts of commissioners in Lauderdale County.

He said the issue will likely be on the agenda when Colbert commissioners meet June 19.

Lauderdale County Commission Chairman Dewey Mitchell said his commission will meet today and the topic will likely be discussed, but he doesn't expect a vote to be taken until the June 25 meeting.

Burleson said he considers it a must for both counties to start collecting the additional tax at the same time. He said it would be unfair for businesses if one county to start charging the additional half-cent before the other.

Government officials estimate the increase will generate between $5 million and $6 million a year.

"We've got to discuss the options and find out what commissioners want to do, but there is some language in the contracts that we have with the people who collect the taxes that we would have to honor," Burleson said.

The commissions would likely have to give the tax collectors 45 to 60 days to handle paperwork and make sure businesses have time to adjust their computers to charge the extra half-cent.

"There are some necessary notifications that must be done,'' Mitchell said. "It's still going to be some time before this goes into effect.''

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.