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Carlisle looks at next step to incorporate
Published September 17, 2009
CARLISLE — Some business owners and citizens from Carlisle remain outraged over having to pay license fees and taxes to Boaz and plan to talk to a lawyer to discuss incorporating the community.
“The first step is to get a lawyer and fight this,” said Dewayne Bickerstaff, who owns Creative Marble, an affected business.
About 30 people met Monday night at the Mountainboro Volunteer Fire Department station on Rockledge Road to talk about their next step. The turnout was less than expected, but Bickerstaff attributed part of that to another well-attended function at Carlisle Elementary School the same night.
When the Boaz annexation of Mountainboro became official Aug. 14, the city’s 3-mile police jurisdiction extended further south and now includes Carlisle. The move means businesses in Carlisle have to purchase licenses from Boaz at half the normal cost to operate. Boaz will also collect half the sales taxes, or 1 percent, from Carlisle businesses.
“Incorporating is the only way we can stop the taxes,” Bickerstaff said. “Boaz is not going to stop. They want the money. Right now, they don’t have to supply services but can tax us. We didn’t get to vote on that. It’s free money for Boaz.”
Monday’s meeting was the second one to address whether or not Carlisle should incorporate into a town to keep Boaz from collecting any revenues from the community. A third meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Some Carlisle residents believe Boaz will eventually impose zoning restrictions and enforce ordinances regarding their property.
Boaz City Clerk/Treasurer Jill Bright said the city can’t zone property in the police jurisdiction, but the Alabama Legislature authorizes planning commissions to regulate subdivisions within 5 miles of city limits.
Boaz has an ordinance addressing garbage, junk, litter, weeds, yard signs and inoperable vehicles, which could apply to residents in the police jurisdiction.
Boaz officials insist they’re only interested in providing the required police and fire protection. Some Carlisle residents say that’s overkill when they already had adequate coverage by the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office and Mountainboro Volunteer Fire Department.
Many at the meeting said they live in the county to avoid all the regulations of life in the city limits.
“I was born on a dirt road, and I want to stay on a dirt road,” one resident said.
Residents at the meeting even discussed the possibility of annexing into Sardis, some saying they want their tax dollars to go where their children attend school.
After watching the annexation of neighboring Mountainboro by a slim 80-79 vote, some Carlisle residents think Boaz is coming for them next.
“Eighty people have affected the lives of thousands,” Bickerstaff said.
Bickerstaff said incorporation will require an election and any new town would need a mayor and council.
“We have to have 300 citizens to make a town,” Bickerstaff said. “You do take possession of your roads after two years, but we’d only be responsible for secondary roads.”
Bickerstaff said he talked to Etowah County Commissioner Larry Payne about the costs of maintaining roads.
“He said it costs $15,000 per mile,” Bickerstaff said.
Bickerstaff estimated nine businesses located on U.S. 431 and six off the highway are affected by the Mountainboro annexation.
“There’s three stores paying $30,000 a year in tax revenue right now,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s 2 miles of road a year right there.”
Bickerstaff said citizens would have to draw boundaries for a prospective town and will try to schedule a lawyer for the next meeting. He invited anyone from Carlisle, Rockledge and Shady Grove to attend.
“We’re not against paying taxes,” Bickerstaff said. “We just don’t want to pay them to Boaz.”
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