Opinion ID: 1681614
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Taxing Powers of Municipalities

Text: Municipalities have no inherent power of taxation. The state, however, having the power to tax, may delegate this power to a municipality. The authority of municipalities in Alabama to place a license tax on businesses and professions is found in Code 1975, § 11-51-90. Alabama Farm Bureau Mut. Cas. Ins. Co. v. City of Hartselle, 460 So.2d 1219, 1222 (Ala.1984) (citation omitted). Section 11-51-90, Ala.Code 1975, states, in pertinent part: (a) All municipalities shall have the following powers: (1) To license any exhibition, trade, business, vocation, occupation, or profession not prohibited by the Constitution or laws of the state which may be engaged in or carried on in the city or town. (2) To fix the amount of licenses, the time for which they are to run, not exceeding one year, to provide a penalty for doing business without a license, and to charge a fee of not exceeding five dollars ($5) for issuing each license. (3) To require sworn statements as to the amount of capital invested, value of goods or stocks, or amounts of sales or receipts where the amount of the license is made to depend upon the amount of capital invested, value of goods or stocks, or amount of sales or receipts and to punish any person or corporation for failure or refusal to furnish sworn statements or for giving of false statements in relation thereto. (b) The license authorized by subsection (a) of this section as to persons, firms, or corporations engaged in business in connection with interstate commerce shall be confined to that portion within the limits of the state and where the person, firm, or corporation has an office or transacts business in the city or town imposing the license. (c) The power to license conferred by this division may be used in the exercise of the police powers as well as for the purpose of raising revenue, or both. This Court has generally interpreted § 11-51-90 as an express grant of power to municipalities to adopt ordinances fixing the amount of a license to conduct a trade or business in the municipalities. See Ridgeway v. City of Bessemer, 9 Ala.App. 470, 64 So. 189 (1914) (construing earlier codification of statute). Additionally, if the power delegated to a municipality by the State is not expressly limited, that delegation of power is construed as including all of the taxing powers possessed by the State. Town of Hackleburg v. Northwest Alabama Gas Dist., 277 Ala. 355, 170 So.2d 792 (1964).