§45-28-244. Taxes authorized.

(a) The Etowah County Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to levy either a county gasoline tax that would remain in effect indefinitely in all areas of the county in an amount not to exceed two cents ($0.02) per gallon on gasoline and motor fuel and substitutes therefor or to levy a one cent ($0.01) county sales and use tax in all areas of the county that would only be in effect from its date of imposition until December 31, 1995, at which time such sales and use tax would expire and no longer be in effect.

(b) Should the county commission choose to impose a gasoline tax under subsection (a), such tax shall be levied on persons, corporations, copartnerships, companies, agencies, and associations engaged in the business of selling, distributing, storing, or withdrawing from storage, for any purpose whatever, gasoline, motor fuels, and substitutes therefor anywhere in Etowah County. Such gasoline and motor fuel taxes levied under this section shall be administered, collected, and enforced by the State Department of Revenue in the same manner and subject to the same penalties and exemptions therefrom as any existing state gasoline and motor fuel taxes are presently being administered by such department. The county commission shall enter into a contract with the State Department of Revenue for the collection and enforcement of any county gasoline taxes imposed under this section.

(c) Should the county commission choose to impose a sales and use tax in the county that would expire on December 31, 1995, such tax shall parallel the state sales and use taxes including exemptions therefrom and enforcement penalties therefor. The county commission shall enter into a contract with the State Department of Revenue for the collection and enforcement of any countywide sales and use taxes imposed under this section.

(d) It is the intent of this section to allow the county commission to have a choice between levying either a countywide gasoline tax or a countywide sales and use tax. Under no circumstances shall this section be construed so as to authorize the levying of both gasoline and sales and use taxes. When the county commission makes its choice public, it shall be deemed to have exercised all taxing authority conferred upon it by this section.

(e) The net proceeds from whichever tax the county commission chooses to levy under this section shall be deposited into a special fund of the county to be used only for the principal and premium, if any, of and interest on any bonds, warrants, or other certificates of indebtedness issued by the county to finance the construction and maintenance of a county jail and the renovation of the existing county courthouse, or for the leasing by the county of a county jail and county courthouse from the Etowah County Public Building Authority or from any other entity.

(f) The penalty for delinquent payment of a tax or any other violations related to a tax imposed under the authority of this section shall be the same as the penalty prescribed by law for violations of the state tax paralleling the county tax imposed under this section.

(g) The levy heretofore by the county commission of all taxes pursuant to subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, irrespective of any irregularity in the proceedings with respect to the levy thereof, is hereby ratified and confirmed, and all taxes so levied shall be deemed to have been duly and legally levied and are hereby ratified and validated in all respects.

(Act 91-158, p. 205, §§1-6; Act 91-818, 1st Sp. Sess., p. 218, §§1, 2.)