Enhance Elmore proposes improvements and extra funding for the Elmore County Jail, courts, infrastructure, workforce development, economic development and first responders.
The plan is a response to unprecedented growth in Elmore County over the last two decades.
“The last time funds were sought for a new county jail, no one saw this kind of growth,” Elmore County Commission chair Bart Mercer said.
Since 1995, Elmore County’s population has grown from 55,000 to more than 90,000. The growth has caused issues with road maintenance, jail space and court rooms.
“We have people living in new homes where we didn’t think anybody would live,” Mercer said.
The Elmore County Commission and county leaders have introduced Enhance Elmore to address many of the issues related to growth.
Funding is needed for Enhance Elmore and the plan is for everyone in Elmore County to share in its costs.
“It would cost the average home owner with two vehicles about $200 per year,” Mercer said.
Some say the county has misspent funds on quality of life projects across the county. But those plans were well in play almost eight years before new courtrooms were needed because of new judges allotted by the Alabama legislature.
“Elmore County families and children have historically not had adequate recreational and sports facilities and the increase in population dictated a need to provide for the needed facilities,” Mercer said. “Investing in our families and children is the best way to ensure a long term stable economy and community.”
The leveled lodging tax in Elmore County provides about $1.6 million annually. It is far short of the $6.5 million needed to service a proposed $100 million debt service to fund a new Elmore County Jail.
Rather than seek an ad valorem increase, Enhance Elmore has the county commission requesting the Alabama legislature to grant it the authority to levy five measures through local legislation and requesting two measures be considered as local constitutional amendments by the voters of Elmore County.
The county commission is currently advertising local legislation to get the local bills in this year's legislative session.
The five local legislation measures being proposed are a levelized countywide sales tax of 9.5%. Mercer the total tax collected would not exceed 9.5% unless municipalities wanted to collect more. If the combined sales tax was less than that, 9.5% would be collected with the lion’s share going to the county. It is a similar process as the county’s current levelized lodging tax that funds quality of life projects.
The county is also seeking a $25 assessment on vehicle and boat tags with a $1 per year increase.
Assessed court fees and booking fees for the Elmore County Jail would be $100 with a $5 per year increase. There would also be a levelized 9.5% rental tax.
Legislation also seeks two local constitutional amendments to be considered by the voters of Elmore County.
The first is property assessment with $25 per year for land only parcels, $150 per year on residential parcels and $300 per year on commercial parcels. The fees would increase by $1 per year.
The second is a tobacco and vape tax of 4.5% across the county.
The collected funds would then be split amongst several projects. The levelized sales tax and rental tax would both be split with 90% going to infrastructure and 10% to economic development. The tag fees would be split 95-5.
Court costs would solely fund public safety improvements, while fees on tobacco and vape would be split with 70% to public safety and health and 30% to fire services.
All of the fees for property assessment on land only would be utilized for fire services, while 85% of residential and commercial fees will go toward public safety and health.
“We feel like this is equitable with everyone paying their share,” Mercer said. “These would all be reported yearly through an accountability report.”
If the Alabama legislature approves the local bills, the commission could act on many of the assessments before fall. The two measures for tobacco and vape require a public referendum and would be dependent upon setting a special election.
