E-verify for government vendors
As we have reported previously, one of the requirements in Act No. 2011-535 (the new immigration law) is that all businesses must enroll in the E-Verify Program. Effective January 1, 2012, as a condition of an award of a contract with a state or local governmental entity, the business entity shall provide a sworn affidavit that:

(1) it shall not knowingly employ, hire for employment, or continue to employ an unauthorized alien;
(2) it is enrolled in the E-Verify program;
(3) during the contract period, it shall participate in the E-Verify program and shall verify every employee that is required to be verified under state and federal law. 

Relevant code sections

There continue to be many questions about how to implement these and other provisions of the new law, and ACCA had hoped that there would be some definitive guidance to provide counties about how to proceed with regard to obtaining proper documentation from contractors.  However, while the secretary of state’s office has implemented an emergency rule establishing forms which entities can utilize to implement certain sections of the new law, they have not issued any rules or guidance to accompany these forms. And the committee working with the Department of Homeland Security has not finalized its efforts in rulemaking either. ACCA hopes to provide counties with more guidance in the coming weeks.

Here are a sample letter you may want to use to notify companies of the new requirement and a sample affidavit that you may want to recommend be used for providing the information.  You may prefer to use the affidavit included in the secretary of state's emergency rule.

Please call ACCA at 334-263-7594 if you have questions.

Year-end salary adjustments
The Association office has received several calls in the last few days about the practice of granting year end “bonuses” or “one-time salary adjustments” for county employees.  While the questions have arisen in light of the new Ethics Law, there is another element to this issue that all counties should be aware of and carefully consider before granting any year end salary adjustments.

Section 68 of Alabama’s Constitution prohibits the county from granting any extra compensation, fee, or allowance to employees after service has been rendered.  Additionally, Section 94 of Alabama’s Constitution prohibits a county from granting money or other thing of value in aid of a private person (such as a county employee). 

The attorney general’s office has long held that these Constitutional provisions prohibit “elected officials from giving seasonal lump-sum bonuses to employees from discretionary funds unless there was an expectation or agreement for the additional salary.”  See AG’s Opinion 2006-153 and 2009-036.  That office has explained that an entity could offer “employees incentive compensation” provided (1) the compensation was prospective, (2) the compensation was treated as a regular part of an employee’s compensation, (3) the compensation was made pursuant to a written policy, and (4) the compensation was in exchange for additional consideration provided by the employees. 

The Association staff has discussed this issue with the Examiners of Public Accounts who have advised that they apply the guidelines set out in the above-referenced opinions for auditing purposes.  Therefore, these guidelines should be carefully followed by any county commissions or other local elected officials considering granting any one-time salary adjustments for county employees. 

Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Commission issues report
This commission, established by Act 2011-563, was asked to identify, develop, implement and administer the procedures and programs in the event that federal legislation implementing the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement or its general principles becomes law and the state is required to come into compliance with it.

The commission issued its preliminary report on Nov. 28. It will be accepting comments on the report through Jan. 12. Email comments may be sent to alsstcommission@googlegroups.com. Comments may also be mailed to Mary Lynn Cooper, c/o Mayer Electric Supply Inc., P.O. Box 1328, Birmingham, AL 35201-1328. Following the comment period, a final report will be submitted to the Legislative Council.

Please feel free to contact ACCA if you have any questions.

ACCA's new look
ACCA launched its branding campaign at the 2011 Legislative Conference by unveiling a new logo and tagline (shown above). The announcement was in response to priorities set by the 2015 Task Force's long-range plan. Lapel pins featuring the new logo were distributed at the conference, and pins will also be available at district meetings in January. The logo begins a campaign that will include a revised website, a new look for email newsletters and more. For more information, please contact Sallie Gowan, director of communication.

www.acca-online.org has moved
As part of ACCA's branding campaign, we are changing our web domain to www.alabamacounties.org. ACCA email addresses will also change too. The "formula" will stay the same -- first initial and last name -- but following the @ symbol should be alabamacounties.org. Please update your bookmarks and address books. The old addresses will continue to work for some time to help smooth the transition.

Check out ACCA's Weekly Hot Five!
ACCA's Hot Five is a behind-the-scenes look at how the Association’s relationships with outside organizations, departments and special committees can keep you informed of all the HOT news in Montgomery and across Alabama. Each Monday morning, ACCA members can expect news about special events and programs ACCA staff are working on for the benefit of our membership and county government in Alabama.

AG: OK to redraw district, precinct lines now
The attorney general issued an opinion Sept. 26 to clarify an apparent conflict in state law that occurred when the 2012 primary was moved to March 13. A separate statute said counties should make any adjustments to precinct lines at their first meeting in March of even-numbered years. The opinion states that county commissions are not required to wait until their first regular meeting in March 2012 to redraw district and precinct lines based on the 2010 census. This will allow more time for election preparations, including securing preclearance with the U.S. Justice Department.

Association joins Facebook, Twitter
The Association of County Commissions of Alabama has entered the world of social media. We've got a page on Facebook where we've already posted a few pictures from district meetings, and we're on Twitter too. "Like" or "follow" us to get short, timely updates. In both places, just search for alabamacounties.