Jefferson County, Alabama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jefferson County, Alabama | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Alabama |
|
 Alabama's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | December 13, 1819[1] |
|---|---|
| Seat | Birmingham |
| Largest city | Birmingham |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
1,124 sq mi (2,911 km²) 1,113 sq mi (2,883 km²) 11 sq mi (28 km²), 1.00% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
662,047 595/sq mi (230/km²) |
| Website: www.jeffcointouch.com | |
Jefferson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of Alabama, the county seat being Birmingham.[1] As of 2000 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 662,047.[1] Jefferson County is the most populated and principal county in the Greater Birmingham area.
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[edit] History
Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819 by the Alabama legislature.[1] It was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson.[1] The county is located in the north-central portion of the state, on the southern extension of the Appalachians, in the center of the iron, coal and limestone belt of the South. Jefferson County is bordered by Blount, Bibb, St. Clair, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties. It encompasses 1,119 square miles. The county seat was at Carrollsville from 1819-21, at Elyton from 1821-73, and since 1873 has been at Birmingham, which was named for England's iron and steel center in Warwickshire.
[edit] Government and law
Jefferson County is one of the few counties in Alabama that has a limited-form of home rule government. This limited ability of home rule allows the county to be able to zone land use, maintain sewer system and roads, manage garbage disposal, and enforce taxation (except property taxes). The county is governed by a five-member commission with legislative and executive duties. The Commissioners are elected by a vote of the district that they represent instead of an "at large" election as was done in the past. Each individual county commissioner represents one of the five individual districts in the county. By commission vote they are given executive responsibilities for the departments that fall under the categories of Roads and Transportation and Community Development, Environmental Services, Health and Human Services, Technology and Land Development, or Finance and General services. The commission elects its own President, who chairs commission meetings and has additional executive duties. The current commission President is Bettye Fine Collins.
Jefferson County is served by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff is chosen in an "at large" election. The current sheriff of Jefferson County is Mike Hale. The department fields about 175 officers who patrol the unincorporated areas of the county and municipalities that do not have their own police. They maintain jails in Birmingham and Bessemer that house inmates awaiting trial and serving sentences.
The judicial system of Jefferson County is unique within the state because there are two judicial courthouses in the county. This came about when the state legislature made preparations to split off a portion of Jefferson county to create a new county with Bessemer as its county seat. The idea was dropped but the additional courthouse and parallel positions remain. The main courthouse is in Birmingham and the second is located in Bessemer. There are elected officials who maintain offices in the annex such as the Assistant Tax Collector, Assistant Tax Assessor, and Assistant District Attorney.
[edit] Taxation
Jefferson County has a 1¢ sales tax on each dollar on anything from groceries to clothing items. In January 2005, a controversial addition 1% educational sales tax for the funding of construction of education facilities came into effect. This controversial tax was approved with a 3-2 vote by the County Commission in October 2004. Commissioners Gary White and Bettye Fine Collins voted against the tax; while Larry Langford, Sheila Smoot, and Mary Buckelew voted in favor.[citation needed] This additional 1¢ has led county municipalities like Fairfield to have sales tax rates as high as 10¢ on the dollar while other municipalities and incorporated communities saw an increase in their total sales tax rate from 8% to 9%. The educational sales tax as well as the county's limited ability to self-govern has been the subject of an attempted repeal by the Alabama State Legislature during the 2005 regular legislative session though the repeal of either (particularly self-government) is highly unlikely[original research?]. It should be noted that the state of Alabama sales tax is 4% and Jefferson County's is 2% in total. Municipal sales taxes go as high as 4%. The county also charges an Occupational Tax, which has been the subject of controversy and is generally considered an unconstitutional taxation.[2]
[edit] Bond controversy
Jefferson County's debt amounts to over $7,000 per man/woman/child in the county, making it is among the most indebted municipal governments in American history. Over $300 million in bonds were issued in order to make court-ordered improvements to the county-owned sanitary sewer system, which was overflowing into the Cahaba River watershed.
A series of controversial interest rate swaps, initiated by the County Commission's finance committee in 2002 and 2003 under former commissioner Larry Langford, were intended to lower interest payments, but, have in fact had the opposite effect, increasing the county's indebtedness to the point that officials have issued formal statements doubting the county's ability to meet its financial obligations. The bond swaps are at the center of an investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. [3]
In late February 2008 Standard & Poor's lowered their rating of Jefferson County bonds to "junk" status. The likelihood of the county filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection has been debated in the press.<a href="#cite_note-3" titl