Birmingham, AL – Money problems and services are getting worse for Alabama's most populous county, now that the state Supreme Court has barred it from spending revenues from a tax that provides a big part of the county's budget.
The court ruled Tuesday that Jefferson County cannot spend money from its occupational tax, which a lower court threw out. The tax accounts for one-third of the county's annual budget, or about $75 million a year.
County commissioners already have slashed work schedules for hourly employees, forcing even the county charity hospital to limit services. Satellite courthouses will close later this summer, and the commission is considering mass layoffs.
Commissioners are separately trying to avoid filing the largest municipal bankruptcy ever because of a debt crisis with its sewer bonds.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)