1. The County’s program to develop partnership projects to improve the Quality of Life in Elmore County began back in the 2016-2017 timeframe. To fund these projects and not impact traditional revenue streams that fund county services, a countywide levelized lodging tax was established through a piece of local legislation approved in 2020.
The lodging tax is driven by tourism and paid for by visitors to our county and not our citizens. Citizens get the benefits of the projects without the burden to pay for them. The proceeds from the levelized lodging fee are required to be expended on economic development activities and projects.
2. While some have suggested that the quality of life project investments should have been made on the public safety and county fire services first, the viability of the revenue being produced by the levelized lodging fee is directly correlated to the ability of the county, our municipal partners and education partners to possess venues that will attract visitors for
large regional types of events.
These events have been a catalyst to grow the levelized lodging fee proceeds. The investments already made on local facilities have played a major role in the levelized lodging fee doubling in annual proceeds since the first proceeds were
collected in 2020.
3. While the levelized lodging tax was put in place in 2020, the legislation creating the two additional circuit judges was passed in 2023. The 2020 levelized lodging tax is required to be expended on economic development activities and projects.
4. Developing a plan to proactively address shortfalls created by the county’s growth has been a long, thorough and collaborative process which evaluated a number of funding mechanisms and was a collaborative effort led by the County Commission and involving the Sheriff, Elmore County Firefighter Association, our municipalities, our Boards of Educations, our local legislative delegation, and the public.
5. The County commissioned a study released in early 2024 which detailed the need for a new jail to address recurring capacity issues.
6. Over the last few years, the Alabama legislature has lowered grocery sales tax by 2% along with eliminating sales tax on baby items and feminine hygiene products. The Enhance Elmore levelized sales tax includes these exclusions.
