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Executive Director's
Report - Convention Issue 2006
Staff and members getting ready for another Legislative Session
It is about this time each year that the ACCA staff and membership get heavily involved in developing a legislative program and strategy for the next legislative season. Six Association steering committees conduct meetings at which they discuss a host of issues relating to county government.
The steering committees make recommendations concerning legislative agenda items and policy statements. Their recommendations are event ually passed on to the Association’s Legislative Committee, which reviews them, makes refinements or changes, and then hands them over to the Board of Directors for its consideration. The process of developing the Association’s legislative agenda and polic y statements ends at the December Annual Legislative Conference where they are adopted by the membership. (See page 16 for a registration form.)
It is inevitable that while the discussion among staff and committee members is going on, the subject of “home rule” comes up. Most County Commission members generally take the position that County Commissions need more authority and that the Association’s legislative efforts should be aimed in that direction.
Any discussion of home rule always involves addressin g the cogent question, “What is home rule, and how much is enough?” It is safe to say that no local government in the country has total home rule – the constitutional authority to do anything it desires. Even in those states where local governments enjoy c onsiderable home rule, there are statutory and constitutional provisions that limit what the governments can do in certain areas.
Alabama ’s municipal governments enjoy considerable authority in the areas of taxation, regulation and the exercise of police powers. Counties on the other hand have been granted considerably less authority. That assessment may be true, but a review of recent legislative activity leads to the reality that the gap between municipal and county authority is not as wide as it once was.
The Alabama Legislature, during the past 30 years, has expanded the authority of county governing bodies in several areas. Following are some of the Acts through which the legislature has expanded county authority:
79-553 Authorized County Commissions to adopt and enforce subdivision regulations.
82-787 Authorized County Commissions to grant TV cable franchises and assess and collect a franchise fee.
85-998 Authorized County Commissions to post and enforce speed limits on county roads.
89-630 Author ized County Commissions to require public participation in solid waste collection programs.
90-558 Authorized County Commissions, rather than the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Revenue, to appoint county license inspectors.
92-608 Authorized County Commissions to adopt and enforce residential building codes.
92-01 Authorized County Commissions to redistrict themselves following every decennial census.
95-558 Authorized County Commissions to license and regulate junk yards.
96-471 Authorized county and municipal governments to self-collect or contract for the collection of certain local taxes.
98-471 Granted county and municipal governments the authority to contract with each other for the joint performance of certain governmental functions. (Joint Powers Act).
00-108 Authorized County Commissions to adjust the compensation of county officials.
00-154 Authorized County Commissions to permit citizens to use credit cards when paying taxes and fees.
02-072 Authorized County Commissions to aba te public nuisances resulting from conditions in and around abandoned buildings.
04-384 Authorized County Commissions to set and adjust their meeting dates.
04-94 Expanded the authority of County Commissions to participate in economic development activit ies.
05-2000 Authorized County Commissions to exercise certain health and safety powers (Alabama Limited Self-Governance Act).
06-534 Granted County Commissions additional authority with regard to the process of considering and approving landfill applica tions.
06-522 Granted County Commissions additional authority when natural and man-made disasters are declared.
06-227 Granted County Commissions additional authority to enforce subdivision regulations.
06-279 Authorized County Commissions to participat e in nationwide joint purchasing programs.
This list is by no means all laws passed during the past 30 years that in some way increased county authority. The Acts listed are actually taken from a list of more than 150 enactments of the legislature since the late 1970s, which affected the duties and responsibilities of the state’s County Commissions . Most of the 150 originated as items on the Association’s legislative agendas adopted through the years.
The list is an indication that while the legislature is not willing to grant counties the whole home rule pie, it is willing to dole some of it out piece-by-piece and especially with regard to regulatory authority.
Obviously absent from the list are Acts that grant county governing bodies additional authori ty to raise revenue. The legislature has been and is reluctant to grant additional taxing authority to County Commissions . It must be pointed out, however, that a considerable number of local Acts (Acts applying to only one county) have been passed authori zing specific C ounty C ommissions to increase specific taxes or fees.
County government still has a long way to go before it reaches a level of authority commensurate with that of municipalities or anything even close to what could be termed “home rule.”
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