Mayors of Alabama's 10 largest cities share 2020 legislative priorities

The mayors of the 10 biggest cities in Alabama met together in Hoover this weekend and today discussed state legislation they say will improve public safety, make distribution of internet sales taxes more equitable and protect people’s yards as utilities expand 5G service.

One issue that has moved to the forefront of the mayors’ agenda is their desire to give judges leeway to deny pre-trial bail to the most violent criminals that have shown they cannot matriculate into society.

In the last legislative session, state Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, proposed legislation to do that. The legislation passed the Alabama House but died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said during a press conference at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel.

There were some concerns whether the bill violated the U.S. Constitution, but “I think those questions are being answered,” Stimpson said.

State Sen. Cam Ward, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, now seems to have an understanding of the need for this change, Stimpson said. Several deaths have occurred in the state over the past 12 months where people were shot and killed by people who should not have been out on bail, he said.

The case of Aniah Blanchard, the 19-year-old college student whom authorities say was kidnapped from Auburn in October and found dead in November in Macon County, really brought the need for this bill to light, Stimpson said.

The man charged with kidnapping and murder, Ibraheem Yazeed, at the time of Blanchard’s killing was free on a bond on charges of kidnapping, attempted murder, robbery and possession of marijuana in connection to the beating of two men at a Montgomery motel in January 2019.

Yazeed also had been previously arrested on charges of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer in Missouri and attempted murder of a Montgomery police officer, but a grand jury declined to indict him.

Stimpson said something has to be done to provide better protection for both the public and law enforcement officers.

“We’re very hopeful our Alabama legislative body will take this up quickly and make something happen,” Stimpson said. “Our law enforcement personnel, our judicial system — they need another tool on their toolbelt to deal with the very worst of our criminal defendants.”

Ward is working on a bill for this legislative session, but the details are not yet complete, Stimpson said.

BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE

Another issue the mayors want to address regarding public safety is the public availability of video from body cameras worn by law enforcement officers, Stimpson said.

The addition of body cameras has reduced the number of complaints against law enforcement officers because both officers and the public know that incidents are being recorded, he said.

However, there are concerns about who has access to view that footage and when, Stimpson said.

Cameras sometimes catch people in the very worst moments of their lives, such as crime victims after a violent attack, or sometimes they include footage of children and innocent people, he said. Sometimes, the media airs that footage to the public for sensational purposes, and the footage also sometimes could be detrimental to the legal process, he said.

The mayors want some regulations to limit the release of body camera footage, he said.

INTERNET SALES TAX

The mayors also are pushing for a change in the way the state distributes internet sales tax money.

“The way the distribution is right now we feel is very unfair to cities, but not just to our cities, but to many hospitals and our schools, other types of government entities that rely on that sales taxes,” Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said.

Right now, companies can pay the state a 4 percent sales tax rate, with taxes then divided up to cities and counties based on population.

That’s unfair because 40 percent of sales tax transactions are business-to-business transactions, and most of those transactions take place in larger cities, so larger cities are losing revenue they otherwise would have had if the transactions had not been done online, said Paul Wesch, the finance director for Mobile.

Also, many cities are receiving a lower percentage of sales tax revenues from the state formula than they would if the revenue were coming directly to the cities in which the transactions occurred, Wesch said.

The mayors are proposing a change in the state formula that takes into account the tax rates in different cities and the overall sales tax collections in cities, he said.

Also, other entities such as hospitals, schools and other government entities that receive sales tax revenue are not accounted for in the current state formula, Brocato said. They are getting shortchanged as well, he said.

The mayors have been examining how the state of Texas divides internet sales tax revenues among cities and other entities and are hoping Alabama officials will pass something similar, Brocato said.

There are only four states that allow cities to set their own sales tax rates — Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana and Texas, Besch said.

And in Alabama, cities have little to no control over other types of taxes, so they are heavily dependent on sales taxes to provide the city services people expect, Brocato said.

Some cities receive as much as 70 percent of their revenues from sales taxes, Besch said. As more transactions move online, the cities are losing more money with each dollar spent, he said.

CONTROL OF RIGHTS OF WAY

Another issue the mayors want the Legislature to address is the need for cities to maintain control of public rights of way, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said.

As wireless companies implement 5G telecommunication technology, they are digging up the rights of way in front of people’s homes to run fiber optic lines and electricity to the “small cell” antennas that make 5G wireless communication possible, and sometimes they leave the rights of way looking unsightly when they are through.

Some telecommunication companies are pushing legislation that takes away the ability of cities to control what happens in the public right of way in their jurisdiction, and the mayors want cities to maintain control so they can make sure the companies digging up the rights of way restore them to how they looked before, Battle said.

The cities also want to make sure the communication companies don’t erect ugly antennas in front of people’s homes, he said.

Implementation of 5G technology is important, but the mayors want to make sure it is done right, Battle said.

The mayors this morning shared their concerns with some legislators during a meeting at the Hyatt Regency. Over the weekend, they also toured the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.