There were the usual platitudes associated with such speeches – Madison County, its commission chair said, is the “greatest county in Alabama” – but Dale Strong brought a bit of an edge Thursday to his annual “state of the county” address.
Now in his seventh year as the top county official in Madison County, Strong spoke out on the expected legislative debate on raising the state’s gas tax.
For the tax itself, Strong offered no objections. But the revenue that’s generated in Madison County should remain largely in Madison County.
“To ensure transportation needs and infrastructure are maintained at the best possible levels, the vast majority of the $6.1 million in gas tax collected currently from the more than 250 gas stations in this county should return from where it’s collected,” Strong said.
Strong’s position is not unusual. Other officials around the state have raised similar concerns.
Strong’s advocacy for his home county, though, comes from not only having the state’s third-largest city in Huntsville and the 10th-largest city in Madison.
The more than 111,000 people who live in unincorporated Madison County – in other words, not included in the Huntsville or Madison population counts – would add up to be the state’s fifth-largest city.
And with much of the county’s legislative delegation in the audience of about 650 business and community leaders for the luncheon at the Von Braun Center, Strong couldn’t help but hammer his point on keeping north Alabama tax dollars in north Alabama.
“That is a legislative process,” Strong said after the speech. “My thing is, if a gas tax is passed, I want to advocate on behalf of the people of Madison County. We’ve got some infrastructure needs. And I believe the state of Alabama, looking at return on investment, the best bet they can do is invest in Madison County. It will accelerate the revenue for (the state).”
Madison County provides the most jobs for 12 north Alabama counties as well as two counties in southern Tennessee, Strong said.
“So it’s not just the people of Madison County traveling our roads,” he said. “We sure don’t want to give up $50 million off the top.”
Strong said before legislation is introduced in Montgomery to raise concerns about keeping tax dollars at home.
“Don’t wait until it’s passed and then start complaining about it,” he said.
Another highlight of Strong’s speech focused on the Madison County Services Center that is scheduled to open in 2021 and shift some traffic-heavy services away from the downtown courthouse to a more accessible location with ample parking.
The $15 million, two-story facility will have about 60,000 square feet and be built at Oakwood Avenue and North Memorial Parkway. Offices that will be located in the new facility include tax collector, tax assessor, license department, probate judge and sales tax.
With more than 300 parking spaces, Strong said it will be a more inviting facility than the downtown courthouse with limited parking spaces.
“This will be state of the art and very efficient,” Strong said. “I think we will get a lot of bang for the buck.”