More than 300 elected municipal officials from across the state of Alabama filled the ballroom at Embassy Suites in Montgomery on Wednesday for the Alabama League of Municipalities Advocacy Day.
The annual program brings together officials from the state’s largest cities to it’s tiniest towns to discuss what priorities they need as lawmakers convene to tackle legislation.
“This is probably one of the most important things we do,” said ALM Vice President Rusty Jessup. “Getting everybody together to advocate here with all of our legislators and talk bout what we need to make things better.”
One of the big issues facing municipalities is how internet sales tax collections will be distributed. ALM doesn’t have a position on that, however, as there is a divide on the issue between the big cities—who want a bigger cut of the pie on the basis that they generate most of the sales tax revenue—and the small cities who benefit from the current system.
One bill that the municipalities are united on, though, is SB42 by State Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, to resolve tied elections at the municipal level.
“We had several elections last summer that ended in a tie, and there’s no clear avenue for how municipalities are supposed to respond,” Jessup said. “It was anarchy.”
Kitchens’ bill would send the tie to a second election or runoff similar to when no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a race with more than two candidates.
The League is also working on empowering many new elected officials with the confidence to advocate for their needs; Jessup didn’t have stats immediately at hand, but said he believes the about 35 percent of municipal officials in the state are newly elected.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jessup said.
