HBAA Legislative Alert, March 18, 2016

HBAA Legislative Alert

House Approves General Fund Budget, Shadow of Special Session Looms

The Alabama House of Representatives approved the General Fund Budget on Tuesday. The budget now returns to the Senate because of some minor differences between what the two houses passed. Among those differences is a reduction of the Governor's line item by $340,000. This reduction was equal to the raises given to cabinet members and passed as a protest of the raises during the current crisis with the General Fund and Medicaid in particular.

Neither the budget passed by the House nor Senate included the revenues requested to fill the shortfall in the Medicaid program. It is expected that the Governor will veto the budget once the Senate sends it across the street and that the Legislature will likely vote to override the veto upon its return.

This process will end with a general fund budget that separates the rest of the general fund agencies from the Medicaid fight. That means that the Medicaid fight may very well unfold during a special session this summer.

Revenue Suggests Amendment to Fix Lodging Tax Legislation

The HBAA met with the Alabama Department of Revenue this week to discuss SB 241. Sponsored by Senator Tripp Pittman (R-Daphne), SB 241 seeks to close loop holes that have allowed third party reservation services such as Airbnb to avoid paying the state's mandatory lodging taxes.

The HBAA's concerns arose from changes to the law that would have required apartment or house rentals of less than 180 days to submit lodging taxes. The Department of Revenue explained that it had not intended to encompass these rentals. Rather, the drafting process had inadvertently removed key language that provided the exemption for rentals in dwellings that are not "regularly" rented for less than 180 days. Their suggested language places a blanket exemption into the law for apartments and houses that do not regularly lease for less than 180 days.

The HBAA is carefully considering the suggested amendment and will respond to the Department of Revenue next week.

Senator Pittman has been extremely helpful in getting the Department of Revenue to meet with the HBAA. The HBAA would like to thank Senator Pittman for his leadership on this issue and his support of the housing industry.

New ADEM General Permit / What You
Should Know

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management's current Construction Stormwater General Permit is set to expire March 31. The new general permit should go into effect on April 1. If you have current permit coverage under the existing permit, it expires on March 31. If your project is not completed and fully stabilized, you must reapply for permit coverage under the new permit before March 31. If your project is complete, then you should request a termination of permit coverage.

Not all is as bad as it seems, however. Although there are some changes to the permit conditions, according to ADEM a majority of existing BMP plans should meet the new requirements. If your project discharges to a Priority watershed, your CBMPP must be submitted with your NOI. All NOIs must be accompanied by the required permit fee. Once new permit coverage is granted, it will be good for the duration of the new general permit. What does this mean?

ADEM's new construction stormwater general permit will be effective for 5 years. If you get a new permit from ADEM effective April 1, then it will be good for 5 years. If you get permit coverage this time next year, then it will be only good for 4 years and so on.

It is recognized that this is a significant inconvenience for current permit holders, but ADEM has assured the HBAA that it will expedite the issuance of new permit coverage in order to keep projects from having to discontinue operations. If you experience any significant delay in getting your new permit approved, please contact the HBAA.

You have been subscribed to the HBAA Legislative Alert because you are a member of the Home Builders Association of Alabama. The Alert is published every Friday following a legislative week. If you have any questions regarding this email please contact Jason Reid at (800) 745-4222.

HBAA | Jason Reid | (800) 745-4222 | Email | Website