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Final Legislative Report 2014 | ACCA Bills | Other Bills of Interest | Monitored Bills | Local Bills
Fair Ballot Commission
Act 2014-399 (HB 9 by Rep. Steve McMillan)
This act creates a commission to develop ballot language for statewide constitutional amendment issues. The purpose of the act is to create easy-to-understand language for ballot measures. This act will not apply to local constitutional amendments or local referendums. The law took effect April 9, 2014.
Election Deadline Changes
Act 2014-6 (HB 62 by Rep. Ron Johnson)
This law, which took effect Feb. 10, 2014, alters many of the deadlines for election activities to allow sufficient time for overseas absentee ballots to be mailed and returned prior to the election. The most significant change for county officials is the change in party qualifying deadline, which fell in early February this year. The state of Alabama had been sued by the U.S. Justice Department because of timing problems with the absentee election process, and passage of this legislation was key to working toward resolution of the lawsuit.
Voter Registration Deadline
Act 2014-428 (SB 235 by Sen. Bryan Taylor)
Under current law, voter registration closes 10 days prior to any primary, general, or runoff election held in the state. This act increases the time for closing voter registration, providing that voters must now register at least 14 days prior to an election. The law takes effect July 1, 2014, and shall be implemented beginning with the 2014 general election in November.
Public Works Prompt Payment
Act 2014-404 (HB 24 by Rep. Bill Roberts)
This law amends the public works law to require that contractors be paid on construction projects within 35 days of approval of invoices in most instances. The law retains the exemption for grant projects but requires that the bid specifications state the project will be funded with grant monies and that no contract be offered without confirmation that the grant has been received and matching funds are available. Counties will be required to make payment to the contractor within 10 days of receiving grant monies. County government has opposed this legislation for the last three years, and it passed this year only after language requested by ACCA and the Department of Transportation to protect the exemption for grant projects was accepted by both the House and Senate sponsors. The law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Advertising for Bids
Act 2014-373 (SB 19 by Sen. Arthur Orr)
Current law requires that bid offerings for public works contracts be advertised three times in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. This act amends the law to provide that an awarding authority may let a public works contract where the newspaper only advertised the bid opening twice if the awarding authority can provide proof that it submitted the advertisement to the newspaper with instructions to advertise three times. The act allows the same protection to an awarding authority that requested newspaper advertising of a bid offering under the competitive bid law. The act does not require newspaper advertising of bid offerings held under the competitive bid law. This law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Pre-sale Agreements for Subdivision Development
Act 2014-332 (HB 46 by Rep. Chris England)
This act allows the developer of a proposed subdivision project to obtain pre-sale agreements from prospective buyers of property within the development if authorized by the county engineer under conditions set out in the law. The developer will still be required to comply with the county’s subdivision regulations in all respects, and no contracts for purchase of development properties can be executed prior to obtaining a permit to develop from the county. The final version of this legislation is the result of negotiations between ACCA and the Home Builders Association initiated to ensure that any authorization for pre-sale agreements did not weaken a county’s ability to administer and enforce subdivision regulations. The passage of this law, which took effect April 7, 2014, may require some modifications of the county subdivision regulations. More information on that will be distributed to the county engineers in the coming weeks.
Vacation of Roads
Act 2014-333 (HB 148 by Rep. Ron Johnson)
This act creates two very limited exceptions to the normal procedures for vacation of a county road. First, it creates a limited right to appeal the denial of a petition to vacate an unpaved road if all property owners on both sides of the road from its beginning to its end have joined as party plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The appeal may only be granted under specific circumstances set out in the law. Secondly, the law provides limited circumstances where a majority of members of the county commission can move for a requested vacation to be considered over the objection of the district commissioner for the district in which the road is located. More information on how these limited exceptions will affect counties’ vacation procedures will be distributed to the county engineers in the coming weeks. The law took effect April 7, 2014.
ALDOT Project Changes
Act 2014-12 (SB 21 by Sen. Gerald Allen)
This law allows the director of the Department of Transportation to approve certain construction project plan changes without approval of the governor. Under this law, the director can approve changes up to $100,000 or 10 percent of the initial contract amount, whichever is greater, provided the increased amounts in the aggregate do not exceed $200,000. This law will not affect county projects where the Department of Transportation is not the contracting entity. The law took effect Feb. 18, 2014.
“One-Call” Notification System
Act 2014-220 (SB 148 by Sen. Gerald Allen)
This act is designed to strengthen the existing “one-call” notification system for excavating lands that may have underground utility equipment. These changes were sought, in part, to ensure the state would continue to be eligible for certain federal grants that require a state’s one-call system to meet federal guidelines. The new act includes language requested by ACCA to make sure state and local governments are still exempt from the law when performing routine roadway maintenance activities carried out by state or local government employees or contractors if the activities occur entirely within the public road or right-of-way and are carried out with reasonable care to protect any utility facilities. This law takes effect Jan. 1, 2015.
Drought Assessment and Planning Team
Act 2014-400 (HB 49 by Rep. Alan Boothe)
This act creates the Alabama Drought Assessment and Planning Team to, among other things, provide advice to the Office of Water Resources on development of a statewide drought plan, assess drought conditions in the state, advise the governor when a drought emergency exists and recommend mandatory water restrictions to the governor. An amendment requested by ACCA authorizes the governor to invite representatives of county government to serve on the team in a non-voting capacity. The law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Storm Water Sewer Systems
Act 2014-439 (SB 355 by Sen. Cam Ward)
This act is designed to grant local governments and public corporations created to operate storm water sewer systems the limited powers necessary to comply with regulations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency related to management of storm water sewer systems. The act expresses legislative intent that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management should have the main responsibility for permitting and regulating such systems and that local governments play as little a role in the process as possible to comply with unfunded federal mandates. This law took effect April 10, 2014.
Community Development Districts
Act 2014-87 (HB 89 by Rep. Jamie Ison)
Current law allows for the sale of alcohol within a community development district inside a dry county or municipality under circumstances set out in the law. This act amends current law to provide that, in the event a community development district is incorporated as a new municipality, the territory included in the district remains wet and any remaining portion of the municipality, at the discretion of the governing body of the municipality, shall also be wet. The law does require that a petition for incorporation provide notice to potential voters that, if incorporated, the new municipality would be wet. This law takes effect June 1, 2014.
Planning and Zoning Near Military Installation
Act 2014-13 (SB 80 by Sen. Gerald Dial)
This act requires a local government whose territorial boundaries are within 2 miles of any portion of a military installation to provide written notice to the military of any proposed planning and zoning that may significantly affect any area or airspace within 2 miles of that military installation. This will have very limited application to counties except for those counties that have planning and zoning authority pursuant to local law. This law took effect Feb. 18, 2014.
Suspension of Tax Collection
Act 2014-331 (HB 97 by Rep. Jim Patterson)
This new law requires the Alabama Department of Revenue to suspend collection of certain taxes or fees when it determines the cost of administering collection exceeds the total amounts collected for each of the past three fiscal years. The law contains language requested by ACCA requiring that if local revenues would be reduced, the department must notify affected localities before taking formal steps to suspend collection. Additionally, collection of a tax or fee cannot be suspended if it would result in reduced state and local revenues that exceed the state’s cost of collecting the tax or fee. This law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Alabama Tax Tribunal
Act 2014-146 (HB 105 by Rep. Paul DeMarco)
Under current law, administrative appeals of tax assessments are heard by an administrative law judge employed by the Alabama Department of Revenue. This act creates a separate Tax Tribunal with appointed administrative law judges to hear such appeals. The law allows appeals from local taxes to be heard by the Tax Tribunal unless the local jurisdiction opts out by resolution, and it adopts procedures for an administrative review of a tax assessment similar to those required for appeals to the Tax Tribunal. In addition to the creation of the administrative tax tribunal, this act makes technical changes to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
The final version of this legislation includes important changes requested by counties related to proposed changes to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Counties will recall that this bill has been introduced for several years and only became law this year through negotiations with ACCA and other interested groups that resulted in changes that limit both the authority of the Tax Tribunal and the substantive changes to existing statutory procedures for collection and enforcement of state and local taxes. More information related to this act – including information on how to opt out from the Tax Tribunal – will be distributed to county revenue officers and administrators in the coming weeks.
The law takes effect Oct. 1, 2014, except that the appointment of a chief judge to the Tax Tribunal shall be made by July 1, 2014.
Community Action Association Tax Exemption
Act 2014-407 (HB 276 by Rep. Merika Coleman-Evans)
This act provides a state sales and use tax exemption for the Community Action Association. As written, no local sales or use tax will be exempted unless the county or municipality consents to the exemption. Appreciation is extended to the sponsor of this bill for accepting this ACCA-requested amendment to protect local taxes from being exempted by state law. The law takes effect June 1, 2014.
Excess Bid at Redemption
Act 2014-442 (HB 349 by Rep. Mike Hill)
This act amends the process for payment of the excess bid from a tax sale after the initial three-year period of redemption to set out what evidence must be presented by someone claiming to be entitled to the excess following the initial redemption period. The act also provides that the county shall retain the excess as county funds if not properly claimed within 10 years from the date of the tax sale. Current law allows for redemption up to 13 years after the tax sale in some circumstances. Additionally, this act removes the effective date included in the 2013 changes to the excess bid law such that legislative changes made in 2013 and 2014 shall take effect on the effective date of this act – July 1, 2014.
Business Rapid Response to Declared Disasters Act
Act 2014-157 (HB 365 by Rep. Lynn Greer)
This new law is designed to allow an out-of-state employee to perform limited disaster-related work on utilities’ infrastructure in Alabama without being subjected to tax withholdings or certain state or local Alabama taxes. “Disaster-related work” is limited to repair and restoration activities related to utilities’ infrastructure that has been damaged, impaired or destroyed by a declared state disaster or emergency. Supporters of this legislation met several times with ACCA staff to develop language ensuring that this law will be construed very narrowly to apply only in those instances where utility companies seek assistance from other states in order to quickly restore infrastructure in Alabama for the benefit of Alabama customers. This law took effect March 13, 2014.
Two-Year Tag Renewal
Act 2014-301 (SB 288 by Sen. Linda Coleman)
This act allows the county commission, in consultation with the county license plate-issuing official, to authorize optional two-year motor vehicle registration renewals. Under the provisions of the act, where two-year registrations are allowed, the registrant must pay the one-time local issuance fee and the license and ad valorem taxes for the two-year renewal period. This law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2015.
Business License Taxpayer Identification
Act 2014-430 (SB 312 by Sen. Slade Blackwell)
This act requires a taxpayer to provide a federal tax identification or Social Security number on any business license application or renewal. The Alabama Department of Revenue will use this information to identify the number of distinct business licenses purchased each year, information needed to help determine what business license fee amounts would be necessary to ensure any business license reform effort did not significantly increase or decrease state and county revenues generated from the current business license laws. This law takes effect Oct. 1, 2014.
Workers’ Compensation Burial Expenses
Act 2014-240 (HB 107 by Rep. Rod Scott)
This act increases the burial expenses paid to the family of an employee who dies as the result of an on-the-job accident or occupational disease from $3,000 to $6,500. The law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Retiree Part-time Work
Act 2014-297 (SB 120 by Sen. Arthur Orr)
Current law allows a person retired under the Employees’ Retirement System to work part-time for an entity participating in the retirement system provided the retiree’s earnings do not exceed the limits allowed under the law (currently approximately $23,000). This act amends current law to provide that a retiree working for an entity in the system must provide written notice of the postretirement employment to the Employees’ Retirement System and the employing authority within 30 days after the date the retiree knows or should know that he or she will be working on a full-time or permanent basis or that annual earnings will exceed the limit authorized under the law. This requirement applies to independent contractors as well as persons actually employed by the entity in the system. An ACCA-requested amendment helped to clarify that it is the responsibility of the retiree to provide the notification required under this law to the employer and to the Retirement System given that the employer may not be aware of the retiree’s circumstance. The law took effect April 7, 2014.
Retiree Lump-Sum Payment
Act 2014-429 (SB 267 by Sen. Del Marsh)
This act allows for a lump-sum payment to state retirees receiving benefits prior to Oct. 1, 2013. The amount will be $2 per month for each year of service or $300, whichever is greater. The lump sum payment can be made available to county retirees if the county elects to come under this act by resolution adopted on or before Aug. 31, 2014. The county must bear the cost of the lump sum payment. The payment shall be made in October 2014. This law took effect on April 10, 2014.
Engineer Licensing Exam
Act 2014-375 (SB 40 by Sen. Gerald Allen)
This act alters the provisions for the licensing examination required for professional engineers to bring Alabama in line with the national testing standards for professional engineers. The law also changes the method by which land surveyors on the state licensing board are selected to provide that the two land surveyor board members will be selected by the governor from three names provided for each position by the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors. Under current law, these appointments are made from recommendations of a nominating committee. The law takes effect July 1, 2014.
Statement of Economic Interests
Act 2014-71 (SB 66 by Sen. Clay Scofield)
This act requires the Alabama Ethics Commission to redact all identifying information such as Social Security, driver’s license, and credit information from any Statement of Economic Interest filed by a public official or employee that is found on any electronic database accessible to the public. Pursuant to legislation passed last year, the Ethics Commission was required to create an electronic data base for Statements of Economic Interests on file. This new law requires the Ethics Commission to remove any identifying information placed on this database as of Aug. 1, 2013. This law took effect Feb. 25, 2014.
Expungement of Criminal Records
Act 2014-292 (SB 108 by Sen. Roger Bedford)
This law allows for the expungement of certain criminal records where a case has been dismissed or the person found not guilty. A portion of the filing fee for an expungement petition is paid to the county general fund for law enforcement purposes where the original arrest was made by the sheriff’s office. It is anticipated that this law will have little impact on counties as most of the records to be expunged will be kept by the court or district attorney, and supporters of this legislation worked with ACCA staff to incorporate changes requested to ensure counties would not be affected. The law takes effect July 6, 2014.
Declared Emergencies
Act 2014-17 (SB 272 by Sen. Priscilla Dunn)
This law allows the governor to declare a state of emergency for less than the entire state. The governor shall designate which counties are included in any such declaration. This law took effect Feb. 18, 2014.