County considers key changes

By Holli Keaton (Contact) | Troy Messenger

Published Friday, November 20, 2009

The Pike County Commission is expected to finalize several pieces of legislation in its meeting Monday night that if passed, are anticipated to bring more revenues to the county.

But it could come with a little expense.

The first will be discussion over increasing ad valorem taxes to residents outside the Troy city limits, in order to provide additional funding to volunteer fire departments.

This idea was first presented by the Pike County Fire Fighters Association.

“We get a tobacco tax now to buy equipment and pay bills,” said Ray Armstrong, secretary/treasurer of the association and chief of the Springhill Volunteer Fire Department. “Over the years that’s decreased, and we’ve been looking for some other funding source.”

Armstrong said the nine volunteer fire departments in Pike County have to do independent fundraisers in order to make ends meet.

“This seems to be the only thing we could come up with that would be reliable,” Armstrong said.

What the association has requested is adding an additional two mills to property taxes on homes outside the city of Troy.

County Attorney Allen Jones said several counties in Alabama have obtained similar funding through local legislation.

“A common increase is two mills,” Jones said.

The specifics of the legislation, however, are anticipated to be decided in Monday’s meeting.

What is certain is that if passed, those who are exempt from paying property taxes would continue to be exempt from paying.

“The residents of Pike County, except the city of Troy residents, will have an opportunity to do something positive, which returns a benefit to them individually,” Jones said.

Jones said not only would additional ad valorem dollars go to fund volunteer fire departments, but he said the benefits should also keep homeowners insurance premiums lower.

“That should be a natural consequence,” Jones said.

Jones said representatives of the commission and the fire fighters association have been conducting meetings to decide what the specifics of the legislation will be.

Commissioners have all agreed to pass some resolution, which would have to be adopted by the state legislature.

Then, it would have to be voted on by residents in Pike County in the June election before its enacted.

The next piece of local legislation has already been approved at the commission level.

A proposal to implement a lodging tax in the county has been passed by the commission, but specifics of that bill also have not been determined.

Jones said how that money will be earmarked and how much the tax would be are still up for discussion by commissioners.

This would, too, come before the people of Pike County for a final vote before implementation.

The final legislation to come before the commission will be increasing pay for the Pike County Coroner. If approved by the state legislature, the commission would have local authority to change the pay of the county coroner.

Currently, Pike County Coroner Jerry Williams is paid a salary of $33.33 per month.

This would have to be approved by the state legislature, but it would not have to go before the people for a vote.

The commission will meet at 6 p.m. in the Pike County Health Department Monday.

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