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Fire tax officially to fund roads, bridges
Commission gives final stamp on
Published Monday, February 8, 2010
The Pike County Commission made the final touches Monday on a bill to implement additional property taxes to homes outside the Troy City limits.
With the taxes, the commission definitively voted just how the funds would be used, if the legislation passes in the Alabama Legislature this year and then meets approval by Pike County voters in June.
Though commissioners had discussed and agreed upon how the revenues from an additional property tax would be used, the government body hadn’t officially put those ideas to a vote.
Monday, the commission approved to use its portion of the additional 2-mills on property taxes in the county for road and bridge improvements and debt retirement related to that.
Of the 2 mills, 1 mill will be allotted to the Pike County Volunteer Firefighters Association to help keep volunteer fire departments operating. The other mill, the commission determined Monday, will be used to repair and improve roads and bridges maintained by the Pike County Road Department and also to retire any debt incurred for roads and bridges.
County Administrator Harry Sanders said an account will be set up to specifically collect those funds. The commission will also take 10 percent of that portion and use it to pay administrative costs related to implementing a new tax.
The administration, done by the Pike County Revenue Commission Office, will require additional fees in collections and distribution of the funds, said County Attorney Allen Jones.
With a local road department facing shortages in funding, commissioners said this money would be a good source of revenue to relieve that burden.
“It’s going to be something everyone of us is interested in because it’s going to be getting us some better roads,” said District 6 Commissioner Oren Fannin.
Before the property tax discussions began, District 5 Commissioner Charlie Harris illustrated just what some of those road department needs are.
Harris said a bridge with a posted 5-ton limit on Goshen’s County Road 2214 has put nine school busses on a different route.
“When you’ve got nine busses that have to detour and six that have to come all the way around to pick up students at the bridge, that’s a hassle to the students,” Harris said.
But, County Engineer Russell Oliver said with limited funds, putting a weight limit on the bride to keep it standing is all that can be done.
“We don’t have extra funding laying around,” Oliver said. “It’s one of the bridges we’ve got on a TIGER grant (where the commission is trying to earn federal funds). It’s very expensive to fix. Other than replacing it, there’s nothing we can do.”
Jones said the support of this bill would be an investment for Pike County residents.
“This is money pouring right back in as an investment,” Jones said.
This tax resolution is expected to pass in the Alabama Legislature this year, but what has been put on hold is a lodging tax proposal to implement an additional 2-cent tax to the already 6 percent on hotels in the county.
District 1 Commissioner Homer Wright, who proposed the lodging tax initially, said the lack of road department funding is why he wanted this tax to be implemented.
“That’s the reason we’re asking for this, and that’s the reason I asked for the lodging tax,” Wright said.
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Comments
Posted by tonydt0 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 2:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
this is not Fair
the mayor should be MADE to take it out of his pocket. not ours
Posted by Igottahunch (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 6:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
putting a weight limit on the bridge in the condition it is in is a good idea, but the school busses are the only ones who are adhearing to the sign. The weight limit is not being enforced. On a daily basis the semi trucks going into and out of Goshen go over this bridge . The county/city bus service uses is on a regular basis also. My thoughts on this are: if they collapse the bridge because they are breaking the law by using it, then they should be responsible for the damages and that let's the county off the hook for re-building it out of tax payer money.
Posted by pikecountyboy (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 7:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I call BS on this I will gladly pay an extra mill for Pike County's above average Volunteer fire departments but the citizens of Troy use Pike county roads every day too. So this should be I mill county wide and 2 mills outside the city limits ....EVERYBODY PLEASE CALL YOUR COMMISIONER
Posted by gator18 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Let me get this right. They want to go up on the tax for the people of pike co.. But they dont want to go up on the tax of all the people from outside of pike co . who come here and enjoy our co.use our roads and then leave.Politics at its finest. Maybe if we vote no to this new tax they might rethink the lodging tax. I dont see the common sense here. I know the argument here that people will quit staying in Troy if our lodging tax is raised , but I dont buy it . If we go up we will not be any higher than the surrounding area. Besides no one is going to stay in Dothan to see a Troy football game or go to a band competition.
Posted by elvis2 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Since even city dwellers use county roads why are they exempt?? I have to pay $85.00 per year plus a $1.00 monthly hydrant fee to support the volunteer fire depts. and their still not satisfied . I'd vote no against adding this tax if it were me .
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here I thought I vented at least 5 year's woth
of frustrations over "paying taxes" on the other forum.
This is like being trapped in a few Hitchcock movies.
"Vertigo"..."Psycho" (1 and 2)..."The Birds
"Vertigo" because once you're on your financial feet you get knocked off again.
"Psycho" because you're never done with the nightmares.
"The Birds" because no matter what you're savings is you're pecked in the head until there's nothing left.
"TAXES, Dejavu". Now playing and introducing the following cast ;
Popcorn Tax
Ticket Tax
Sound Tax
Film Tax
Seat Tax
Toilet and Toilet Paper Tax
Soda Tax
Candy Tax
BREATHING Tax
Produced...directed...written...and presented by your local City Counsil and paid for by the Pike County taxpayers.
Posted by Blue_Sky (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I live in the county and I will vote NO.
Posted by Blue_Sky (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also the piece says that an account will be set up to specifically collect those funds. The commission will also take 10 percent of that portion and use it to pay administrative costs related to implementing a new tax. WHAT??? I thought that is what government did and NOW there is a "fee" on the tax implemetation, etc. Sounds like bad logic to me.
Posted by MessengerReader23 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is like total Socialism. The free market should provide bridges and roads, not the guv'mint.
Posted by mustang89 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 5:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Volunteer fire departments have and will assit Troy fire department in times of need and everyone in the county uses the county roads, as it stands i will vote no. as far as i'm concerned everyone or no in the county one should be taxed.
Posted by deerhunter05 (anonymous) on February 9, 2010 at 8:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am for the tax if the Vol.fire depts get their fair share, Yes we all help in the county not just in Troy what alot of people don't know is Troy fire will not come out of the city limits unless call upon. As far as the Tobacco tax the money is split between 8 depts in the county, we need that money to operate some of the trucks. We need it to get to where we are call to at alls times of the night.Just think if we had less money to operate then we could not respond fast enough for some.
Posted by Newagenda (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think they should have thought about this last year and in 2008 when the commissioners voted themselves raises when every other company and government agencies were cutting jobs and expenses. Also where is the savings that was supposed to happend with the retirement incentive. If the taxes are to be placed on the people that live outside the city limits of Troy then they should be the only people to vote on it, not the residents that live inside the city limits since they will not have to pay this tax.
Posted by oldhog (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 8:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There may come the day when all we have left to tax is Gay Marriage, (Question;) A chicken lays an egg. How many times is that egg taxed before it gets on your plate?
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok people, what we need to realize here is that everyone in politics wants and needs more money for whatever the reason. But let's look at the issues at hand, do the roads in Pike County need to be improved: Yes. Should the road repairs be funded by only a portion of the citizens of Pike County? Absolutely not. Everyone should help make Pike County a better place. Now as far as the Volunteer Fire Departments, these individuals donate numerous hours of their time to help all of the citizens in our county. Being a volunteer firefighter does not mean that you do nothing until a call for help is requested. There is equipment to maintain, records to be kept, certifications to obtain, trying to find the financial means to keep the doors open, and many more objectives that I will not go into. The term Volunteer means that you recieve help from individuals that donate their time to help others. What would happen if you called for assistance and no one answered the call? The mentality of the men and women that serve Pike County as Volunteer Firefighters is to help any and everyone that needs help no matter where the help is needed. These volunteers are a tight knit group that wants to help but they need your help also. These departments do recieve funding from the tobacco tax. By receiving this tax money the volunteer departments are required to respond only 5 road miles from there station to render assistance. With that being said, stop and think of how far are you from a fire station. Now let's look at the cost of being a firefighter, (Career or Volunteer) they all receive the same type of training, the bunker gear that is required costs on the average of $2000.00 per firefighter, the air packs they use while fighting fires costs on the average of $4500.00 each, and then there are the trucks and other related equipment that costs many thousands of dollars. Ok, with that being said let's go back to the training: a career firefighter is sent to school (approximately 8-10 weeks) to become certified during the week days and receives pay from their department while training; where as a volunteer firefighter is sent to school (approximately 6 months) to become certified during the weeknights and on weekends and receives no pay from their department while training. As you can clearly see these volunteers are dedicated and really need our help. I have seen on other posts that have been made in the past that they should apply for grants and do more fundraisers. A grant is great but you have to have matching funds, that poses a problem when your resources are already limited. Fundraisers are a great tool; however, with the current economic situation not everyone will or can donate to the cause. The ones that donate are the ones that donate every time they are approached. Should the Volunteers only support and answer the call of their contributors: maybe or maybe not?
Posted by Blue_Sky (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also in this current economic situation, people of the county should not be asked to pay this unfair tax - imo. I do not like to see tax money be earmarked for non profits. The goverment can always appropriate tax money to nonprofits but I do not like having a designated tax automatically going to them.
Posted by firemedic726 (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 3:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Someone in a earlier post mentioned the tobbacco tax money we recieve at the fire dept. the money is split between the eight vol. fire dept. in the county, I can not say how much it totals up to in a year but I can say that at my dept we receive about 1200.00 dollars amonth from it. That is great because it does take it and a whole lot more money to run a dept. we have truck maintence that has to be done on a regular basis....just like your cars and trucks you have at your homes. we also have training that we have to do. yes most of the dept pay for som or all the training, but it still requires us tyo be away from our families to do so. Also we voluteer we do not get paid for what we do. we work hard to protect the people and property in our respective communities. We do not ask for anything in return but alittle finically help to keep training going, the trucks running and stuff like that. We put our lives on the lines everytime we leave our homes and our families to help our communities at what ever the time is day or night, hot or cold, rain, sleet or snow. montgomery county added a tax very similar to the one proposed here several years ago and it has help them out alot. If people nhave other ideas for raising money we are open to ideas.
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 4 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I honestly believe the people of Pike County would support a tax increase to help the local volunteer fire departments; however, our local politicians try to attach themselves to these non-profit organizations in order to accomplish a tax increase by using the phrase "let's help the community." Ok, let's help our communities, if the county needs money to improve the bridges and roadways allow the entire county vote on a 1 mil tax increase to support that cause. Since the City of Troy Fire Department is funded by city funds, let all of the people outside the Troy city limits vote on a 1 mil tax increase to help the volunteer fire departments. I believe we should have the opportunity to vote on the tax increases separtely. This is the only fair to conduct this type of business.
Posted by firemedic726 (anonymous) on February 10, 2010 at 5:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree that the lumping the county road tax in with the tax to help the fire dept was a cheap shot a will result in the tax not being passed. it is sad that we have politicians that would use something that was meant for good of the people, for a service so dearly needed. like i said before if anyone has ideas for raising the funds we need then please let us know we are open for ideas.
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Blue_Sky
Do you have a problem with all non-profit organizations or just the volunteer fire departments? Believe it or not but all fire departments across the country are non-profit unless they provide EMS transport services. I wonder what would happen if the volunteer fire departments started charging the citizens for the services they provide? Let's do a little math and compare the cost of the proposed tax versus a charge for the services provided:
Propose tax - $30.00 per year
OR
Charges for service -
Structure Fire $500.00 per fire
Equipment Charge $75.00 per hour (average 3 trucks x 3 hours each = $675.00)
Manpower Charge $25.00 per hour (average 15 people x 3 hours each = $1125.00)
Now how would you feel to receive a bill for $2300.00 while standing in front of your damaged home that you may have caused while cooking for your family instead of knowing that you did your part to help yourself and your neighbors? By the way, the figures in this post are realistic but are on the low side of what they may actually cost depending on the circumstances of the incident. Further more, I bet you didn't complain when you received your stimulus check from the government. Guess what, the volunteer fire departments did not get that free money.
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm sure all of us have seen these road signs...."slow men working" on major highways and various roads.
Thing is....at least 90% of the time when those signs are up...I never see anyone working. The equipment is there but no one is working.
Where are they in mid morning or mid afternoon in fair weather?
When it rains....are those workers paid anyway?
When there is no one....and you know there should be people working at those times because it was made public that there would be work going on....are they paid for those times when they are not there?
Does the contract include payment for these times?
Does the contract include clauses that specify and outline "overtime" and how is it justified?
Or are the contractors stretching a contract for additional money and overtime?
Does the contract include the salaries of the police officers that must insure their safety while working when there actually ARE workers present?
Does anyone in authority actually and periodically check when work is supposed to be going on?
The year before last part of 231 had to be re-paved because of mistakes made. Did that cost the tax payers more money or did the contractor absorb that cost?
I have always thought of those things.
Posted by Blue_Sky (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
smalltown, you obviously did not understand my post. I did not say that I had a problem with nonprofits - I said that tax money should not go directly to them as law but let the goverment appropriate it to them if needed under their discretion. I am sure that you see the difference. And for your information, I did not and will not receive a stimulus check from the government - sounds like you did though. You sound like a volunteer fire department person, if so, congratulations to you but there is a limit that we can be taxed to support nonprofits. Free money is what you are asking for and there is not any. I am not scared by those charges for services that you claim - are you willing to pay the same? If you do not like the system as it is set up then stop being a volunteer and get a job - if you make enough you will not get any more stimulus checks.
The bottom line smalltown is that the tax payer can not give any more not even to good causes. Look for other ways to fund or quit begging.
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Blue_Sky
It appears that I have touched a nerve. It sounds like you are a person that can afford an additional expense, maybe or maybe not that's not my place to decide and yes I will pay my part whatever the cost. By the way, the job that I do have protects you no matter what your beliefs or opinions are.
mrpierce
The $30.00 is a figure that I was told each department would recieve from each taxpayer after the county got their cut and all of the fees have been paid. I was only referring to funding for the fire departments. I guess I should have explained it better. Thanks for keeping me straight.
If there is a fee to be paid I feel that it should be the same across the board for everyone. I agree that it not fair to charge some more than others.
Posted by Blue_Sky (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 4:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
smalltown, you did not touch a nerve I was just replying to your musings .One thing you can count on and that is this tax request will fail. Don't spend your stimulus check all in one place!
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 5:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
mrpierce
There are 9 volunteer fire departments in Pike County.
Blue_Sky
Just to clarify a couple of things for you. There must be some misconception that you have about me or just maybe stereotyping in general. First of all, never have I said that I was a volunteer firefighter and secondly, no need for me to "get a job" when I already hold a high level position. Furthermore, since you seem to be stuck on the spending of "my stimulus check", this may be the only common thread that we have. I did not receive a stimulus check either!
Posted by Kelly (anonymous) on February 11, 2010 at 9:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One time, my friend, Luther, knocked over the frying pan, starting a small grease fire. He called the fire department and told them that his house was on fire. The 911 operator asked "How do we get there?" Luther replied, "Don't yall still have that big red truck?" ....
Posted by smalltownpolitics (anonymous) on February 12, 2010 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is amazing how things like that happen mrpierce. When the pressure starts to build on the local dictators things mysteriously start to disappear. Maybe I should accept your offer to partner up and go into politics, we might not be able to win but we sure would scare the heck out of alot of people.
Posted by Bamabunny (anonymous) on February 12, 2010 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kelly......that was funny.
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