Birmingham Politics: One Man's Defeat is Another Man's Victory

I'm sure you've heard that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Many smart businesspeople have made fortunes of turning trash to profit.

Well I'm not going to discuss trash or treasures, but rather victory and defeat. You can't have victory without someone being defeated and you can't have defeat with a victor. This week in the final sessions of the Alabama State Legslitature a bill written to renew the Jefferson County occupational tax failed to pass. The existing bill and it's proposed replacement is designed to tax the workers who are employed in Jefferson County (Birmingham).

Why this tax must have been implemented in the first place? Why tax employees when they pay sales taxes on goods and services during the work week or their employee pays business taxes on licensure and or profits? Furthermore, we all know that to keep good employees the employer within Jefferson County has to compensate for the occupational tax anyway by higher wages or footing the bill itself.

With a little common sense thought, it doesn't take long to come up with a reason for the tax. Jefferson County was loosing residents (property tax revenue) to neighboring counties like Shelby and St. Clair. Instead of fixing the problem or the reason for the flight out of Jefferson County, county leaders chose to tax those who work there. So let me catch up here... No solutions just new bills to compensate. Okay.

By the way, we know it's not the entire county that's a flop since within Jefferson County there is some of the most desirable cities in our area if not region.

So you're a commercial real estate guy where's the link you ask. For years, I have noticed commercial agents advertise their properties with the benefit of "no occupational taxes". Many of which were located just across the border of Jefferson County. If this is an advertising point, it must be a big deal to businesses looking for space and maybe a deciding factor.

Well, let me turn this one around Mr. and Mrs. County Commissioner or Employee of Jefferson County who desprately wanted the tax bill to pass, you might be eliminating one of the deterrants of new business in your district. Woah! What a tought, reduce a tax, encourage business growth, more sales and profit, more tax.

In honor of fair reporting, why might the occupational tax be reasonable. Well, Birmingham is the hub of most commercial activity. The hub serves as the driving force behind axial growth beyond the county boundarys. Therefore there are some who use the commercial benefits of the city center, but don't pay their share of tax to keep it up i.e. streets, sidewalks, sewer, and etc.

Hence, a tax on the workers in the jurisdiction would generate the needed income to keep the services up that the commercial users depend on.

So in conclusion, only time will tell, but maybe this tax reduction will help make the city center aka Birmingham stronger for it's employees or it may put Jefferson County in bankruptcy.