CULLMAN, Ala. – The Cullman County Commission met on Tuesday evening at the Cullman County Courthouse with a hefty agenda to review.
Resolution 2022-37: Revenue Sharing arrangement for Simplified Sellers Use Tax was approved unanimously despite the concerns that Place 2 Commissioner Garry Marchman voiced during the earlier work session.
The sales tax, which has been in place since 2019, will officially be split with the commission receiving 70% and the schools receiving 30%.
Marchman stated, “I feel like there’s been a push to get this changed before we go to a five-man commission, and I don’t like that. I don’t think that’s a good way to do business.”
He continued, “Another thing is how is the money going to be used? Why is the education system asking for the money? Is it going to be used for classrooms, teachers increase in salary? Is it going to be used for sports and academic programs? You know, I have no problem supporting all of that or any of that. I think we need to. There’re just too many unanswered questions.”
Noting that this is an established tax already in place, Cullman County School Board Superintendent Shane Barnette addressed the commission and said, “I appreciate the partnership. The sales tax, when it was first put in the place, was to support the commissions and the county school systems throughout the state. I think this just clarifies the division of the online sales tax as it continues to grow. I think it’s great to be clear to the people of Cullman County that it’s not a new tax. It’s just clarifying and setting up a sharing agreement. As we all know in Cullman County, we have a lot of old buildings. Our intention is to use that for capital projects going forward. We have a lot of projects going on right now and we hope to continue to upgrade our buildings.”
After the meeting, Barnette shared, “We appreciate the Cullman County Commission agreeing to share a percentage of the Simplified Sellers Use Tax with our students. The collected sales tax has always been used to support the County Commission and the school system. This agreement simply clarifies the portion of the sales tax that is collected from online purchases. Our portion of these funds will be used for capital improvements throughout our district.”
In other business, the commission recognized the Cullman County 4-H Shotgun Team for their state championship win. Celebrating retirements were Mary Frances Brock who has retired from the Probate Office after 16 years of service and Joe Perry who served 11 years with the County Garage before his recent retirement.
In other business, the following were approved:
- Resolution 2022-44 to approve Cullman County Road 68 Economic Development Project Amendment and authorize Chairman to sign all related documents
- Resolution 2022-45 to change speed limit to 25 mph on County Road 226
- Resolution 2022-46 to change speed limit to 15 mph on County Road 1208
- Resolution 2022-47 to change speed limit to 35 mph on County Road 1598
- Resolution 2022-48 to change speed limit to 30 mph on County Road 1866
- Resolution 2022-49 to enter into contract with Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood for Engineering Services for the Cullman Regional Airport and authorize Chairman to sign all related documents
- Resolution 2022-50 to adopt Act 2022-229 (Local Unit Retirees and Beneficiaries receiving one-time lump sum payment at the expense to the Commission of $116,126)
- Reappointment of Annette Parker to the DHR Board for a 6-year term to expire May 15, 2028
- Appointment of Caleb Elrod to the DHR Board for a 6-year term to expire May 15, 2028
- Application for Homeland Security Grant 2022
- Update to the Travel Policy Handbook setting the maximum room rate at the highest room rate
- Contract for the Airport Layout Plan (ALP) for the FY2022 Project
- Stone’s All Fired Up food truck to use the south parking lot of the courthouse on May 20, 2022
- The surplus and auction of nine vehicles and pieces of equipment
The next commission work session will be held Thursday, June 23, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room and the commission meeting will follow at 6:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
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