Patrick Bates opens the incorporation petition for a resident who wishes to sign
BERLIN – Patrick Bates, who heads up the effort to incorporate Berlin, held a meeting Tuesday evening at the Berlin Community Center to talk to local residents and get those interested to sign the petition for incorporation. Turnout was low, especially after Bates sent out the largest mass-mailing the effort has yet seen; a seven-page brochure went out, with information on tax revenue and town budgets, available grants and municipal government. In all, 16 people attended the meeting.
Unlike some previous meetings, though, this gathering was unmarked by any opposition. All those present seemed to support incorporation, and one first-time attendee signed the petition. The incorporation effort has secured the needed number of petition signatures in the portion of the proposed township that lies north of Highway 278, but Bates is still seeking a few needed signatures from residents south of the highway. The man who signed at the meeting is one of those residents, and he offered to take the petition to his neighbors.
The main theme of the evening was tax money. All municipalities in Cullman County get a share of the County’s sales tax revenue, based on population. According to Bates, in 2016 an incorporated Berlin with a population of 750 (Bates’s estimate) could have seen $308,440.36 in revenue, with more than 80 percent of that coming from County sales tax.
“Whether or not we have a town,” said Bates, “we’re still paying the taxes that support towns. We’re just seeing that money leave the community and go to these other places, to support them. If we incorporate, that money will come back to us, with no additional taxes on anyone in the area.”
He estimated that, currently, about $400 per Berlin resident is leaving Berlin each year, and is being distributed to incorporated towns.
One anonymous resident seemed to sum up several conversations buzzing around the tables during the question and answer time that followed Bates’s presentation: “It’s our money! It should stay here!”
Bates also spoke briefly about specifics of what needs to be done for incorporation from this point:
- Supporters must gather the remaining signatures needed from the southern half of the proposed incorporated area. They have around six months to do so, before the current petition expires.
- The community will have to come up with money to fund an incorporation election in the fall, including an estimated $3,000-4,000 in legal and attorneys’ fees, and $6,000 to rent a voting machine and purchase ballots.
Bates has scheduled meetings at the community center for the second Tuesday evening of each month through July. He hopes to have the needed signatures by that time, and to see incorporation put to a vote in the fall.
For more information, including a downloadable booklet and maps of the proposed area, visit http://berlinal.org or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BerlinALIncorp.
Background:
http://www.cullmansense.com/articles/2016/06/09/berlin-incorporation-informational-meeting-held
http://www.cullmansense.com/articles/2016/04/11/berlin-takes-steps-toward-incorporation
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