Lodging tax vote brings out residents

DOUBLE SPRINGS -After considering several amendments related to how the proposed Winston County lodging tax would be divided to benefit various entities, the vote on the first draft proposed by District 1 Commissioner Rutger Hyche failed after a lack of second.
Immediately after the lack of a second from Commission Chairman David Cummings and District 2 Commissioner Roger Hayes - which nullified draft 1 - Hayes made a motion on draft 2, with Cummings seconding.  Draft 2 passed the commission on a 2-1 vote, with Cummings and Hayes voting in favor and Hyche voicing a strong no.

“I’ll say this,” Hyche spoke out. “Any dollar coming into Winston County is a dollar we didn’t have.
“I saw the writing on the wall when I proposed this bill,” Hyche emphasized. “I figured it would come down to me having to vote against this. This isn’t what I wanted at all. It is not right.
“It is not right to everyone who showed up in this room today to voice your opinion,” Hyche exclaimed.
The issue of the proposed lodging tax has divided both the commission and commission districts in Winston County, according to residents of district 1, who wanted proceeds from the tax to stay in the area of the county generating the most lodging tax, which would be district 1 currently.
“They are going to make me vote against a bill that I researched and wrote.   I’ll gladly (vote no) because at the end of the day it’s a bill worth fighting over,” Hyche stressed.
“I am not going to support this. This is not right, the way this is allocated,” Hyche further pointed out.
“So your vote is?” Cummings asked Hyche.
“I am not voting for it,” Hyche responded. “I am voting no.”

Angry residents
address commission

After numerous residents stood earlier in the meeting to address the commission over the condition of roads in district 1, David Asch asked the crowd to raise their hands if they were from district 1. All residents in the audience raised their hands, with the exception of one man from district 2.
“How many of you want to see the balance of money going where it comes from, to take care of the problems we’ve got?” Asch asked. The same percentage of hands was raised.
“That speaks,” Asch then stated. “I think it shows you that we really care. We really care about this community, about this county.  We’ve invested money in expensive homes.  We chose to live here, so please take care of it. It’s gone on long enough. We can do this, if we all pull together.”
Helicon Fire Assistant Chief Neil Feist exclaimed, “I know nothing we say is going to change your mind, nothing.
“Everyone here is from district 1,” Feist added.  “No one is here from district 2 because they know you have their backs. You two (Cummings and Hayes) are going to take care of them. That’s shameful.”
Feist stated district 1 would continue to see growth, so the tax proceeds should go back to the part of the county generating that growth.
“It has to be run like a business, David,” Feist stated.
George Gibson of the Arley Fire Department stressed that Smith Lake is a business.
“It is a business that is bringing people in, tourists that are spending money,” he stated.
Arley Fire Chief James Rickett addressed the commission, noting the source of division in the county has come from Cummings and Hayes.
“I have never heard of a county that is split in half like this county is,” Rickett exclaimed. “It’s because of you two right there. I am sorry. That is the way I feel.
“These roads have got to be fixed over here. If we have somebody’s house on fire and somebody trapped in it, they don’t have a chance.  We can’t get a truck to them because of these potholes that nobody will come fix. We’re tired of this stuff. Guys, we need to do something about this.
“This money that is coming from this side of the county, it needs to stay over here,” Rickett exclaimed. “Fix these blasted roads.”
Rickett thanked Hyche for what he was seeking to do.
“We have never had a commissioner on this side who has done what you have done,” he concluded.

Percentages on
 proposed tax changed

The commission had discussed at the special-called meeting changes from the originally drafted lodging tax, adjusting percentages on how much would go to different entities.
The commission discussed the 55 percent of the proposed tax going for road and bridge improvements, distributed in the districts based on the percentage of lodging facilities located in each district.
The commission also chose for the initial 20 percent going to law enforcement in the county to remain the same.
However, the 14 percent initially slated to go toward tourism was removed from the draft. Instead, the original five percent for fire departments in the county was changed to 19 percent, using  the money that originally would have gone toward tourism.
The percent going to fire departments with coverage area, but no station in the county remained the same at one percent, as well as five percent for the county general fund, commissioners discussed.
However, these amendments were discussed for draft 1, in which Hyche made the motion to approve, but the motion died due to a lack of second.
Draft 2 of the lodging tax had 55 percent proceeds to roads and bridges, 20 percent to law enforcement, the tourism percentage removed, 19 percent to fire departments inside the county, one percent to fire departments outside the county and five percent for the general fund.
The major difference with draft 2 is that it stated that the 55 percent for road and bridge improvements, “to be divided 54 percent to district 1 and 46 percent to district 2.”
Draft 1 stated, “55 percent to road and bridge improvements in the county distributed to the districts based on the percentage of lodging facilities located in each district.”
Hyche’s original proposal had the tax proceeds divided with 99 percent going to district 1, since they had a majority of the lodging, leaving only one percent for district 2, based on the lodging properties on that side of the county, Hayes and Cummings had argued.
The total lodging tax for Winston County as proposed by Hyche had  been 10 percent, but he compromised with Hayes and Cummings to bring the overall percent for Winston County down to eight percent.
“Is anybody in here sure of what it’s going to bring in? I’m not,” Hayes asked the large audience.
Cummings responded that had the lodging tax been in place for the county last year, it would have brought in $435,064.
“I’s going to cost us two percent to collect this tax,” Cummings stated.
Commission Attorney Jeff Mobley explained if the county collected the tax, they would have to employ a company, which would charge a fee to collect the tax.  The Alabama Department of Revenue could also collect the tax for the county, charging two percent or a flat amount per return submitted, whichever is less, Mobley added.
Cummings suggested the bill be amended to allow the state to collect the tax.
               
Hayes compares meeting to
 O.J. Simpson trial

“I appreciate everyone coming and also want to address what I have here,” Hyche said, as he held up a folder containing 205 emails from residents throughout the county concerning the lodging tax.
“I’ve had some people who couldn’t make it to today’s meeting that asked me to read a comment they had sent in regards to this lodging tax that has been proposed,” Hyche said.
“As a lifelong resident of Winston County, I cannot in good conscience support any amendments made to the lodging tax proposal brought forth by Rutger Hyche,” read Hyche from one of those emails.
“The current proposal for road and bridge money is fairly split by the percentage of lodging facilities in each district which these facilities generate the higher volume,” Hyche further read. “The way the bill is written, it allows for a percentage allocation to change, as each side grows in rental properties.
“It is an injustice to the entire county to mandate a standard percent split between portions of the county that do not contribute to the revenue,” Hyche read.
“We firmly believe that a majority of the tax collected originating from the properties on or around Smith Lake should be allocated should go to that area,” Hyche read from a separate email.
Hayes then wanted to address some issues earlier presented by Rickett about the lodging tax.
“We have made this an O.J. Simpson trial,” Hayes began, referencing the 1995 murder trial for the former football star/actor. “We’re here on the lodging tax. We have helped fire departments. Who in here thinks that the county commission doesn’t help fire departments? Who has ever got (funding) from RC&D in fire departments?”
Cummings reminded Hayes that the only topic they could discuss at the special called meeting was the lodging tax.
“I am opposed to the 99 percent, one percent (split),” Hayes pointed out. “You can’t run county and city business like that.
“For 40 or 50 years, Haleyville had the two motels and it was never discussed, leave that money over there,” Hayes cited. “They have a Walmart over there. They have the top (sales) tax in the county. It has never been discussed leaving it over there.
“I am real sad that we’re looking at east/west.  I have friends and relatives on both sides. I was raised on the east side,” Hayes continued.“I have always tried to be fair.  I have always tried to see that fire departments have got their fair share.”
Hayes noted he also had property on Smith Lake, “and my road looks like c*** too,” he said.
“I am for the 54/46 (percent split).  When you do any state money, that’s the way it’s always divided up,” Hayes continued. “I am for keeping it that way.”
Cummings then spoke out citing issues.
“A county can’t be run as a business. You run a business to make a profit. In the county, you can’t make a profit,” Cummings began.
“The majority of the county benefits from the hospital,” Cummings said, referring to Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville. This statement brought a negative reaction throughout the audience.
“Most of the sales tax comes from the west side,” Cummings added. “From Double Springs west (is where) the big majority  of the gas tax is raised in Winston County because they have all the fuel stations for the big trucks. They have a lot more gas stations.
“Should (the gas tax) stay over there? No, it shouldn’t,” Cummings noted. “It should be distributed in the county like it is being distributed.
“I want to be the first to tell you, this (lodging) tax has been blown way out of proportion,” Cummings pointed out.
“I don’t care if we do a 20 percent lodging tax with the money that is going to go to road and bridge, whether it’s split or all of it goes to one district, you are going to be able to hot mix less than two miles a year, chip seal less than three miles a year. That’s not going to fix the problems on Smith Lake, guys. It’s not going to happen,” Cummings exclaimed as he raised the tone of his voice.
Hyche started to make a comment.
“I didn’t interrupt (the) district commissioner when he was talking and I wish he wouldn’t me,” Cummings exclaimed. “It’s not going to fix the problems on Smith Lake. We are going to have to do something better.
“I don’t want to mislead the citizens in either district that this lodging tax is the fix-all because it is not,” Cummings strongly emphasized. “The main concern is, get some money for some pothole patching, get these volunteer fire departments some money is the way I am looking at this lodging tax.
“For 10 percent (lodging tax), I think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Cummings stated.
Cummings then gave figures breaking down funding districts 1 and 2 receive for road improvements.
“District 1 received $168,976.96 last year, more than district 2,” he said.
“Where did you come up with that?” Hyche asked.
“My engineer,” responded Cummings. “That’s (a) 54/46 (percent split).”
“I didn’t just write this. I used Lawrence County’s lodging tax they have had in place since the 1970s, as a base to start with,”  Hyche said
Hyche added that the proposed draft of the lodging tax was sent through State Senate Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger’s office.
The Winston County lodging tax must now be agreed upon by the state legislature before it can return to Winston County for a vote of the people.