Selma City Council considers taxing workers from out-of-town

The Selma City Council is considering placing an occupational tax on folks who work in the Queen City but live elsewhere.   

City Council President Billy Young said at the council’s July 23 meeting that he has asked the city’s treasurer to “look into the possibility” of adding Selma to the 25 other Alabama cities that tax employees who work in the city but live somewhere else.   

“These are people who work in Selma and are benefitting from Selma, but they’re not contributing to Selma,” Young said.   

The Alabama Legislature capped the occupational tax rate at 1% in 2020. Selma City Council President Pro Tem Clay Carmichael said several bills have been introduced in the Legislature to disallow occupational taxes approved after a certain date, “which goes to the point that we’ve got to do it (pass an occupational tax) before they (the Legislature) abolish it.”   

State data shows that in 2021, 4,764 workers commuted to Dallas County every day from outside the county. The state does not have data showing how many of those almost 5,000 people work in the city of Selma, according to Sheryl Smedley, executive director of the Selma Dallas County Chamber of Commerce.   

According to the Alabama Department of Labor, the median salary for workers in Dallas County is just short of $36,000. If half of the 5,000 out-of-town workers work in Selma, and the occupational tax were set at 1%, the tax would generate $900,000 in additional revenue.   

Almost 52% of Dallas County residents who work commute to other counties for their jobs, according to Alabama Labor Department data.   

The city of Selma has been seeking additional revenue for years. Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. has asked the council to set a special election to allow citizens to vote on an increase in property taxes.