Jefferson County Community Service Fund

The Jefferson County Community Service Fund is a fund from which members of the Jefferson County Delegation in the Alabama State Legislature can allocate money to community service projects and organizations at their discretion.

The fund was established by Act of Alabama 2015-226, a local act applying only to Jefferson County, which was sponsored in the House by Oliver Robinson (D-District 58). The law was partly intended to assuage the loss of revenues from the former Jefferson County Occupational Tax. The Community Service Fund act was signed into law by Governor Robert Bentley on May 27, 2015.

The law authorizes the the Jefferson County Commission to levy a 1% sales and use tax. The tax took the place of the 1% sales tax previously levied by the county to fund repayment of $1.05 billion of Limited Obligation School Warrants issued under the leadership of Jefferson County Commission president Larry Langford in 2004 and 2005.

Collection of the Education Sales Tax was ended at midnight on July 31, 2017, and collection of the new Special Revenue Sales Tax began at 12:01 AM on August 1. The change did not affect taxpayers as the overall rate remained the same, but did require businesses and other entities that collect sales and use taxes to file their returns differently. The tax generates approximately $130 million in annual revenues.

According to the law, the revenues from the tax first went to pay off the existing or refinanced school warrants, which has been budgeted at $26 million per year. Second, any remaining proceeds, up to $36.3 million, would go to the county's general fund. Third, the next $18 million would be set aside in a "2015 Sales Tax Fund" for distribution to public schools operated by or within the county. The Jefferson County Community Service Fund was then funded from the next $3.6 million raised. The next $2 million would go to the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (dropping to $1 million after ten years), and then $500,000 to the Birmingham Zoo, with any surplus amount (currently around $44 million) going back to the general fund.

The law also created a Jefferson County Community Service Committee to oversee allocations from the Community Service Fund. The four members would be residents and qualified voters in Jefferson County, chosen by the Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate representing Jefferson County. By law, allocations from the fund can only go to support specific public purposes, including public facilities, public education, neighborhood organizations, performing arts, nonprofits that have been vetted by the United Way of Central Alabama for funding, law enforcement agencies, and programs providing assistance to low-income residents to pay sewer bills.

Under the rules adopted by the Committee on April 12, 2018, each Senator in the county delegation is allowed $243,000 to distribute as grants, and each Representative is allowed $100,000. Each grant must be for a minimum of $1,000. The form by which those recommendations are made includes attestations that the legislator, their family and their business associates will not benefit from the allocation; that other members of the delegation and their affiliates will not gain from the allocation; that the purpose is qualified under the law; and that the recipient is not an individual.

Once the legislators make their nominations, the Committee and an external fund administrator (currently Donna Briggins of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham) review them for compliance with the law. For administration of the approved funds, the Committee contracts with United Way of Central Alabama for staff support, and holds its meetings at their offices in Birmingham. It also employs attorneys Michael Brymer and Rick Stotser of Massey, Stotser & Nichols as legal counsel and engages Warren Averett to audit its financial statements. The cost of those contracts are generally covered by interest generated by the fund itself.

Jefferson County Community Service Committee

• 2018–2019: Richard Arrington (chair), Butch Zaragoza, Gwen Amamoo, Richard Hitchcock
• 2019–2020: Butch Zaragoza (chair), Gwen Amamoo, Richard Hitchcock, Samuetta Drew
• 2020–2021: Gwen Amamoo (chair), Shan Paden (vice chair), Samuetta Drew, Sid McNeal
• 2021–2022: Shan Paden (chair), Chris Dorris (treasurer), Samuetta Drew (secretary)
• 2022–2023: Sid McNeal (chair), Samuetta Drew (vice chair), Chris Dorris (treasurer), Sarah Mitchell (secretary)

References

• "Special Sales Tax" in "FY 2023 Official Operating Budget" Jefferson County Budget Management Office, p. 106
• Bryant, Joseph D. & Hannah Denham (June 20, 2023) "Inside the Birmingham kickback scheme that took down a legislator." AL.com
• Denham, Hannah (July 5, 2023) "How Birmingham area legislators spent pork money; see the top 10 recipients." AL.com
• Denham, Hannah & Joseph D. Bryant (July 5, 2023) "What are the ‘pork’ handouts at the center of a Birmingham corruption case?" AL.com

External links

• Jefferson County Community Service Fund website
• Act of Alabama 2015-226 at sos.state.al.us