2023 Code of Alabama › Title 11 - Counties and Municipal Corporations. › Title 2 - Provisions Applicable to Municipal Corporations Only. › Chapter 51 - Taxation. › Article 2 - License Taxes. › Division 1 - General Provisions. › Section 11-51-91 - Licenses for Business, etc., Conducted Outside Corporate Limits of Municipality.

Section 11-51-91
Licenses for business, etc., conducted outside corporate limits of municipality.
(a) Any municipality with an ordinance in effect on January 1, 2021, to fix and collect licenses for any business, trade, or profession done within the police jurisdiction of the municipality but outside the corporate limits thereof may continue to do so after July 26, 2021; provided, that the amount of the licenses shall not be more than one half the amount charged and collected as a license for like business, trade, or profession done within the corporate limits of the municipality, fees and penalties excluded; and provided further, that the total amount of the licenses outside the corporate limits shall not be in an amount greater than the cost of services provided by the municipality within the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits. All licenses adopted pursuant to this section shall be assessed to all businesses, trades, or professionals within the police jurisdiction.
(b) No calculation shall be required to be made by the municipal officials or license officer for the cost of services to any particular business or classification of businesses within the police jurisdiction so long as the total amount of revenues from the licenses collected in the police jurisdiction is not an amount greater than the cost of services provided by the municipality to the police jurisdiction.
(c)(1) On or before December 31, 2021, any municipality collecting license revenue or other taxes and fees within its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits shall notify the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts that it collects license revenue and other taxes and fees in its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits. Beginning March 1, 2022, each municipality collecting license revenue and other taxes or fees within its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits shall prepare an annual report which shall include an accounting of all license revenues and other taxes or fees collected in the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits during the previous fiscal year and provide a list of the services provided by the municipality and a list of providers within the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits. If the municipality provides police or fire protection within the police jurisdiction, the report shall include the following information:
a. The total annual budget for each police department and fire department within the municipal corporate limits.
b. The total number of calls responded to by each police or fire department within the municipal corporate limits and the total number of calls responded to by each police or fire department within the police jurisdiction. For the police department, the number should include the number of calls responded to as well as the number of citations and arrests made.
(2) A copy of the annual report, which shall be completed by March 1 for the previous fiscal year, shall be forwarded to the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts and shall be made available to the public.
(3) If a municipality fails to file a report as provided in subdivision (1) within 12 months of the report being due, the municipality may not collect any further license revenue or any other taxes or fees in the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits.
(4) The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall provide written notice to the Department of Revenue of any municipality prevented from the further collection of license revenue or other taxes or fees as provided in subdivision (3), within 30 days of the expiration of the time period provided for in subdivision (3).
(5) The Legislative Committee on Public Accounts, by majority vote, shall have the authority to direct the Examiners of Public Accounts to perform an audit of any municipality collecting revenue in its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits. A municipality shall not be responsible for the cost of the audit so directed unless it is determined by the Examiners of Public Accounts that a municipality is not in compliance with the requirements of subsections (a) and (b).
(d) When the place at which any business, trade, or profession is done or carried on is within the police jurisdiction of two or more municipalities which levy the licenses thereon authorized by this section, the licenses shall be paid to, issued, and collected by that municipality only whose boundary measured to the nearest point thereof is closest to the business, trade, or profession. This section shall not have the effect of repealing or modifying the limitations in this article relating to railroad, express companies, sleeping car companies, telegraph companies, telephone companies, and public utilities and insurance companies and their agents. This section shall be given a liberal construction to effectuate its purpose and meaning.
(e) Act 2021-297 does not affect any public or private contracts, or any mutual aid agreements between law enforcement, fire service, public safety, or emergency service agencies.
(Acts 1927, No. 580, p. 674; Acts 1932, Ex. Sess., No. 235, p. 240; Code 1940, T. 37, §733; Acts 1943, No. 502, p. 477; Acts 1986, No. 86-427, p. 790; Act 2006-586, p. 1548, §2; Act 2015-361, p. 1101, §1; Act 2021-297, §§3, 4.)