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Council recognizes Waggoner, York; approves measures to catch tax revenue

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Emily Featherston

There were several measures the Vestavia City Council needed to attend to before getting down to the scheduled agenda items Monday, one being a surprise for a state legislator.

State Sen. Jabo Waggoner was invited to the meeting under the auspices of giving a preview of 2018 spring legislative session, but instead was ambushed by Mayor Ashley Curry with a special recognition.

Curry said it came to his attention that Waggoner is the longest-serving state legislator — Waggoner took office for the first time in 1966 — and he wanted to recognize Waggoner’s service to the state and to the city.

Curry secretly coordinated for Waggoner’s family to join the meeting just as Waggoner was beginning his remarks about the legislature. The state senator said he was quite surprised, but honored to be recognized by Vestavia.

Emily Featherston

“This is my home. This is where I raised my kids,” he said.

While Waggoner said he assumes he’s been the “go-to-guy” for legislation involving Vestavia Hills, he claimed the annexation of Liberty Park in 1992 as what he would consider his biggest achievement for the city.

Mayor Curry and the council also recognized retired Vestavia Hills Police Deputy Chief Kevin York, who stepped down earlier this month.

Curry and the council thanked York for his nearly four decades with the Vestavia police force, and York said he considered his decision to join the department the best decision he made in his career.

Emily Featherston

When getting into the items of business for the meeting, the council dealt with two items having to do with mistakes in tax collection in the Patchwork Farms area.

City Manager Jeff Downes explained that when Whirlpool installed washing machines into the 4700 Colonnade apartments, the firm mistakenly paid $13,849 in out-of-area use tax to Vestavia, when it should have been paid to Birmingham, resulting in a resolution the council approved to refund the amount.

However, Downes said, a similar case resulted in Vestavia receiving $55,000 in use tax from Cahaba Ridge Retirement Community for a similar issue.

On top of the repayment measure, the council also approved a contract with Public Resource Management Alliance Corporation for supplemental auditing services to identify more places the city might be missing tax revenue from.

“They seem to bring another fresh set of eyes,” Downes said, and explained that the services would be “another tool in the toolbox,” and not replace the city’s current auditing measures, but add to them for this specific purpose.

Other Council Business Included:

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