Alabama Department of Revenue changes rules to comply with 2013 red tape law

Five years after the Alabama Legislature passed a law to cut red tape, state agencies are still culling their regulations.

Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Revenue will hold a hearing in Montgomery on a proposal to repeal a regulation concerning a property tax break the legislature gave to senior citizens in Baldwin County who meet certain qualifications.

The tax agency wrote a new rule in 2008 because the original rule referenced dates that no longer are valid. But the old regulation remains on the books. The Red Tape Reduction Act of 2013 requires that regulation to be formally eliminated, and that requires a hearing at the agency’s headquarters in Montgomery.

“We’ve had to go back and look at all of our regulations to clear up all the rules,” said Frank Miles, a spokesman for the agency.

The red tap law that passed five years ago requires any agency that proposes a regulation that might adversely impact a business to prepare an economic impact statement and file it with the Joint Committee on Administrative Regulation Review.

Lawmakers at the time said they had received complaints from companies that red tape was consuming time and energy that could be put into the core business and creating jobs.

The law also requires existing rules and regulations to be reviewed every five years. Agencies are required to post information related to proposed and existing reviews.

The Baldwin County regulation in question refers to Oct. 1, 2005 — any residence constructed after that date would not qualify for the senior discount. It also cites Oct. 1, 2006 — the date at which property taxes would be frozen for taxpayers 65 and older who had lived in their homes for at least 10 years.

The superseding 2008 regulation deleted references to specific dates and now simply states that the tax break is available to folks 65 and older who have lived in the same home for at least 10 years.

The tax agency will take up two other proposed rules changes on Tuesday. The first is a new rule clarifying the procedures for a tax lien auction and tax lien sale. The regulation lays out procedures for collecting delinquent property taxes. The rule requires county tax officials to determine which method to use no later than Oct. 1 when property taxes become due.

The second proposed rule is an amendment to regulations concerning tobacco manufacturers and salesmen. For instance, it changes “should” to “shall” in text related to a requirement that salesmen be informed of the illegality of transferring unstamped tobacco between wholesalers and in their vehicles.

@BrendanKKirby is a senior political reporter at LifeZette and author of “Wicked Mobile.”