Jefferson County seeks more time on building lease decisions as ...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Jefferson County Commission needs more time to decide whether to reject leases at the Besse?mer Courthouse and sher??iff's substations, attorneys for the county say in a Fri?day filing.

The 24-page filing in bankruptcy court asks Judge Thomas Bennett to extend until Sept. 27 from July 2 the time needed to make a decision on the leases which county lead?ers say the cash-strapped government may not be able to pay.

"The county's primary funding source for pay?ments under the lease (at the Bessemer Courthouse) was the county's occupa?tional tax," the filing says. "The Alabama Legislature repealed the statute that authorized the occupa?tional tax. The Alabama Legislature has failed to lawfully enact a statute to replace the county's lost revenue."

The Alabama House on Wednesday killed a tax plan that would have let the County Commission im?pose an occupational tax that could not exceed 0.5 percent of the wages earned by people working in Jefferson County. Such a tax could have raised as much as $62 million a year.

Despite the state law that the county maintain a courthouse in Bessemer, "uncertainty regarding fu?ture revenue sources leaves the county unable to plan long-term funding on ac?count of the county's obli?gations under the lease," the filing says.

Commissioners have talked about closing whole departments to save money and previously talked about the possibility of closing the Bessemer Courthouse as a cost-saving measure.

The filing says the loss of the job tax revenue has re?sulted in the cessation of essential county services and "jeopardized the health, safety and welfare of the county's citizens."

The filing warns that cur?rent financial projections indicate the county may run out of operating cash before the end of fiscal year 2012, Sept. 30, "notwith?standing the draconian cost-cutting measures al?ready in place."

Lawyers for the county say the sheriff's substation leases and any other ar?rangement characterized as lease of real property must be examined for possible rejection. The lawyers cau?tion that the county may not be a party to the sub?station leases but want to reserve all rights.

The Alabama Supreme Court in March 2011 struck down a Jefferson County occupational tax that raised about $66 million a year, saying state legislators had made technical errors in approving it.

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