Jefferson County, Alabama

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Jefferson County, Alabama
Map
Map of Alabama highlighting Jefferson County
Location in the state of Alabama
Map of the U.S. highlighting Alabama
Alabama's location in the U.S.
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 courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama

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.

Contents

[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 (2,900 km2). 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 Bottomssor, and Assistant District Attorney.

[edit] Taxation

Jefferson County has a 10¢ 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] Sewer construction and bond swap controversy

Jefferson County is one of the most indebted municipal governments in United States history, with a current debt of approximately $7,000 for each man, woman and child residing in the county.[citation needed]

Two extremely controversial undertakings by the county account for the majority of this debt. First was a massive overhaul of the county-owned sewer system and second was a series of risky bond-swap agreements. Both have been scrutinized by federal prosecutors with several former county officials convicted of bribery and corruption.

In 1995, Jefferson County entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding sewer overflows into the Cahaba River watershed. A total of $3.2 billion of new construction was subsequently contracted, both to comply with the consent decree and to expand the system to newly-developing areas and increase the number of ratepayers financing the construction. Much of this work was awarded to inexperienced companies, many of which have since been convicted of bribery along with several county officials.

A series of controversial interest rate swaps, initiated in 2002 and 2003 by former Commission President Larry Langford (now the mayor of Birmingham), 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.[4] In early March 2008, Moody's followed suit and indicated that it would also review the county's ability to meet other bond obligations. [5]

On March 7, 2008, Jefferson County failed to post $184 million collateral as required under its sewer bond agreements, thereby moving into technical default. [6]

County Commissioners have recently stated that they will not raise sewer rates beyond scheduled increases, that no new taxes will be levied to alleviate sewer debt, and that no personnel cuts will be made. Rather, they have demanded bond holders reduce the amount of required loan payments. If those negotiations are unsuccessful, it is likely the county would enter into bankruptcy, easily marking the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,911 km² (1,124 square miles). Nearly 1,113 square miles (2,882 km²) of it is land, and 11 square miles (29 km²) of it (1.00%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Rail

[edit] Adjacent counties

Walker County Blount County St. Clair County
v • d • e
 
North
West   Jefferson County, Alabama    East
South
Tuscaloosa County Bibb County Shelby County

[edit] National protected area

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 662,047 people, 263,265 households, and 175,861 families residing in the county. The population density was 595 people per square mile (230/km²). There were 288,162 housing units at an average density of 259 per square mile (100/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 58.10% White, 39.36% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.90% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Nearly 1.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 263,265 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.10% were married couples living together, 17.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. Nearly 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45, and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.50 males.

In 2007 Jefferson County had the highest rate of syphilis cases per 100,000 in the US, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[8]

The median income for a household in the county was $36,868, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $35,954 versus $26,631 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,892. About 11.60% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] 2008 election results

Although Alabama as a whole voted for John McCain by double digits, Jefferson County voted for Democrat Barack Obama. He won 52% of the vote in Jefferson County and 166,121 votes. John McCain won 47% of the vote and 149,921 votes. [9]

[edit] Cities and towns

[edit] Education

Except for cities that have established their own local school districts, all parts of Jefferson County outside of the city limits of Birmingham are served by Jefferson County Board of Education. Parts within Birmingham are served by Birmingham City Schools. Other cities in the county that have established their own school systems are Bessemer, Fairfield, Midfield, Trussville, Homewood, Leeds, Hoover, Vestavia, Tarrant, and Mountain Brook.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e "ACES Jefferson County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpage: ACES-Jefferson.
  2. ^ Red Mountain Law's Birmingham Business Law Blog: Is Jefferson County’s Continued Collection of Its Occupational Tax Valid?
  3. ^ Wright, Barnett (December 18, 2007) "SEC wants to force Larry Langford, Bill Blount to testify in Jefferson County bond swap deals." Birmingham News
  4. ^ Hubbard, Russell (March 2, 2008) "Jefferson County finance options likely to be expensive." Birmingham News
  5. ^ Hubbard, Russell (March 4, 2008) "Update: Jefferson County finances take another hit". Birmingham News
  6. ^ Wright, Barnett (March 8, 2008) "Jefferson County, Alabama sewer debt swap agreement deadline passes." Birmingham News
  7. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  8. ^ Birmingham Business Journal,"Jefferson County tops country for number of syphilis cases" November 15, 2007.
  9. ^ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

[edit] External links

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Municipalities and communities of
Jefferson County, Alabama
County seat: Birmingham
Cities
Map of Alabama highlighting Jefferson County
Towns
CDPs
Other
communities
Footnotes

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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State of Alabama
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Coordinates: 33°35′N 86°52′W / 33.583°N 86.867°W / 33.583; -86.867

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_County,_Alabama"
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