AL
Alabama Senate Bill SB344

Alabama 2023 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Bill SB344 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 SB344INTRODUCED
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33 AHV0S7-1
44 By Senator Allen (Constitutional Amendment)
55 RFD: Local Legislation
66 First Read: 23-May-23
77 2023 Regular Session
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1212 5 AHV0S7-1 05/16/2023 FC (L)ma 2023-1780
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1414 SYNOPSIS:
1515 Existing law does not provide for the merger of
1616 county and municipal governments. This bill would
1717 propose an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of
1818 2022, relating to Tuscaloosa County, to authorize the
1919 merger of the Tuscaloosa County government and the
2020 municipal governments of the City of Tuscaloosa and the
2121 City of Northport into an urban-county form of
2222 government.
2323 A BILL
2424 TO BE ENTITLED
2525 AN ACT
2626 This bill would propose an amendment to the
2727 Constitution of Alabama of 2022, relating to Tuscaloosa
2828 County, to authorize a referendum on the merger of the county
2929 government and the municipal governments of the City of
3030 Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport into an urban-county form
3131 of government.
3232 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
3333 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution
3434 of Alabama of 2022, is proposed and shall become valid as a
3535 part of the constitution when all requirements of this act are
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6565 fulfilled:
6666 PROPOSED AMENDMENT
6767 (a) In order to facilitate the operation of local
6868 government, to prevent duplication of services, and to promote
6969 efficient and economical management of the affairs of local
7070 government, the voters in Tuscaloosa County may merge county
7171 government and the municipal governments of the City of
7272 Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport into an urban-county form
7373 of government.
7474 (b) This amendment shall be applicable to merge
7575 Tuscaloosa County government and the municipal governments of
7676 the City of Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport. This
7777 amendment shall not be effective unless approved by a majority
7878 of those voting in the election on the amendment in the City
7979 of Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport.
8080 (c)(1) The Legislature, by local law, may provide
8181 conditions for the merger of the Tuscaloosa County government
8282 and the municipal governments of the City of Tuscaloosa and
8383 the City of Northport into an urban-county form of government.
8484 (2) An Advisory Council on Metro Government shall be
8585 established to propose a charter for the Metro Government of
8686 Tuscaloosa County, including the establishment of a Metro
8787 Council of Tuscaloosa County. The advisory council shall be
8888 appointed as follows:
8989 a. The judge of probate shall appoint four members, who
9090 shall be representative of Tuscaloosa County and its
9191 diversity, to be approved by vote of the county commission.
9292 b. The Mayor of the City of Tuscaloosa shall appoint
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122122 four members, who shall be residents of the city and shall
123123 reflect all sections of the city, to be approved by vote of
124124 the city council.
125125 c. The Mayor of the City of Northport shall appoint two
126126 members, who shall reflect all sections of the city, to be
127127 approved by vote of the city council.
128128 (3) The advisory council shall elect a chair. The
129129 advisory council shall hold regular public meetings. The time
130130 and place of all meetings of the advisory council shall be
131131 announced and advertised in a local newspaper. The advisory
132132 council shall establish an office by vote of the advisory
133133 council. All costs of the operations of the advisory council
134134 shall be funded 50 percent by Tuscaloosa County, 40 percent by
135135 the City of Tuscaloosa, and 10 percent by the City of
136136 Northport.
137137 (4) The advisory council shall submit a proposed
138138 charter to the qualified electors in the area to which this
139139 amendment applies at the general election in 2026. The charter
140140 shall provide for the election of the Metro Council and for
141141 the operation of the Metro Government subject to any
142142 limitations in this amendment.
143143 (d) The Metro Council shall exercise all powers
144144 previously granted to the City of Tuscaloosa and the City of
145145 Northport within the corporate limits of each respective
146146 municipality and all powers previously granted to Tuscaloosa
147147 County within the county until the time the Legislature by
148148 general or local law shall amend, repeal, or expand the powers
149149 including expansion outside of the political subdivision in
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179179 which are currently applicable. In addition, any ordinance or
180180 resolution of the county governing body, the municipal
181181 governing body of the City of Tuscaloosa, or the municipal
182182 governing body of the City of Northport shall continue to be
183183 effective in the county or in each respective municipal
184184 corporate limits and police jurisdiction where applicable
185185 until the Legislature by general or local law affects the
186186 power of the county or the municipality to adopt the ordinance
187187 or resolutions, or otherwise authorizes or provides for the
188188 expansion of the power of the Metro Council to make the
189189 ordinance or resolution applicable to any area where the
190190 ordinance or resolution is not currently applicable.
191191 (e) Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither the
192192 Legislature or the Metro Government Charter may authorize any
193193 additional ad valorem tax except as otherwise authorized by
194194 this constitution nor may any additional sales and use tax be
195195 levied unless the sales and use tax is approved by a
196196 referendum of the qualified electors in the area affected by
197197 the tax.
198198 (f) In addition, notwithstanding the other provision of
199199 this amendment, any zoning in the unincorporated area of the
200200 county prior to 2042 may only be authorized by local law to be
201201 implemented by a zoning board elected by the qualified
202202 electors of the area affected and the Legislature may not
203203 otherwise expand the authority of the Metro Council to zone
204204 any property outside of the corporate limits of the City of
205205 Tuscaloosa or the City of Northport through a unified planning
206206 and zoning board until the year 2043.
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236236 (g) The election of the Metro Council shall be
237237 nonpartisan. The elections shall be conducted in the same
238238 manner as provided for municipal elections by general law,
239239 unless otherwise specifically provided by local law.
240240 (h) The Mayor of Metro Tuscaloosa County shall be
241241 elected by the qualified electors of Tuscaloosa County. The
242242 Metro Council shall be elected from single-member districts in
243243 the county apportioned based on population. The mayor shall be
244244 a full-time position and the council shall serve on a
245245 part-time basis.
246246 (i) The Tuscaloosa County Metro Government shall employ
247247 a comptroller pursuant to civil service board rules. The
248248 merger of all financial operations of any area to which this
249249 amendment applies shall be effective January 1, 2028.
250250 Upon ratification of this constitutional amendment, the
251251 Code Commissioner shall number and place this amendment as
252252 appropriate in the constitution omitting this instructional
253253 paragraph and may make the following nonsubstantive revisions:
254254 change capitalization, spelling, and punctuation for purposes
255255 of style and uniformity; correct manifest grammatical,
256256 clerical, and typographical errors; and correct incorrect
257257 cross-references.
258258 Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment
259259 shall be held in accordance with Sections 284 and 284.01 of
260260 the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, and the election laws of
261261 this state.
262262 Section 3. The appropriate election official shall
263263 assign a ballot number for the proposed constitutional
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293293 amendment on the election ballot and shall set forth the
294294 following description of the substance or subject matter of
295295 the proposed constitutional amendment:
296296 "Relating to Tuscaloosa County, proposing an amendment
297297 to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, to allow Tuscaloosa
298298 County, the City of Tuscaloosa, and the City of Northport to
299299 merge into an urban-county form of government and to provide
300300 the procedure for the merger and subsequent operations.
301301 Proposed by Act ____."
302302 This description shall be followed by the following
303303 language:
304304 "Yes( ) No( )."
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