Alabama Bound (And Gagged)

Alabama's largest county faces massive layoffs and a near-discontinuation of most of the county's public services as Jefferson County, home of Birmingham, is now out of time and money.

It is hardly unusual these days for a government building to forgo a fresh paint job or regular lawn care to cut costs. But last week, the director of the Jefferson County public nursing home was told that the county could no longer afford to bury indigent patients.

Across town at the juvenile detention center, the man in charge was trying to figure out how to feed the 28 children in his custody when the entire cafeteria staff is let go. The tax collector warned local school districts to expect a six-month delay to get their share of property taxes. In family court, administrators plan to delay child support, custody and child abuse cases, leaving some children in the hands of the state indefinitely.

In every part of Jefferson County — Alabama’s most populous county and its main economic engine — government managers have been scrambling to prepare for Saturday, when two-thirds of county employees eligible for layoffs — up to 1,400 — will be lost in an effort to stave off financial ruin.

“Outside of the city of Detroit,” said Robert A. Kurrter, a managing director with Moody’s Investors Service, “it’s fair to say we haven’t seen any place in America with the severity of problems that they’re experiencing in Jefferson County.” Moody’s rates Jefferson County’s credit lower than any other municipality in the country.

In July, the county asked Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, to declare a state of emergency. Mr. Riley declined, delicately explaining that his authority extended to tornadoes but not to tsunamis of red ink.

And keep in mind folks that this is Alabama, not California. It's the Republicans that run the show here. Yeah, there are Democrats involved too, but they're not the ones calling the shots, especially in the Statehouse. Jefferson County Republicans are blaming state Republicans and vice versa. At the heart of the problem is a "subprime" bond-swap blowup and a sewer system overhaul project that was riddled with corruption and kickbacks, plus a county "occupation tax" that exempted "professionals" like doctors and lawyers from having to pay, meaning in Jefferson County, the bulk of people paying the tax were poor. (Regressive taxes. Gotta love 'em.)

But the only reason the tax was repealed was that the state delegation from Jefferson County wanted to earmark that money for their own projects, not the county's. The county officials told them to go to hell, and the state lawmakers then repealed the tax out of pique. The county continued to collect the tax for another ten years after it was repealed in 1999 while the matter went to court.

Jefferson County lost in January. They lost big time. The repeal was ruled valid. And suddenly this huge, nasty good ol' boy situation turned into a Jerry Springer fight.

Now it's the folks of Jefferson County who have to pay.

Probate Court will shrink to 13 people, from 54, to process wills, adoptions, and commitments of the mentally ill. There used to be 488 people repairing roads and bridges; there will soon be 89. Doug McCutcheon, who has worked in the county maintenance department for 24 years, will be out of work, and so will his cousin Tim McCutcheon, who will have two daughters in college in the fall.

Adrilisa Steele, 34, a juvenile probation officer, said, “We are probably going to be standing in line for services like everyone else.”

Ms. Steele meant lines for unemployment insurance and food stamps, but at the courthouse, the lines for car tags or driver’s licenses were already very long. People waited for more than two hours, fearful that come Monday, those routine tasks would become much harder. The general attitude, not surprisingly, was one of indiscriminate disgust. Neither the commissioners, nor the legislators nor Wall Street escaped blame.

Will the county commissioners, state lawmakers or Wall Street titans lose their jobs? Eventually. But not this weekend like two-thirds of the county employees. And the solution?

Why, to try to reinstate that "occupational" tax on the county's poor...which would now ironically include the soon to be laid off county employees.

Gotta love it.