Committee advances bill to form regional authority to build indoor police firing range in Homewood

A House committee on Thursday advanced a bill to create an authority that could raise money and build a regional indoor firing range for police training in Homewood, Jefferson County.

Supporters said the measure is intended to provide a training facility for suburban departments that have lost nearby outdoor ranges. "This bill is creating an authority. It is not obligating any municipal municipality to put in money to be a part of the authority," Representative Paulson said, describing the proposal as a vehicle to pool resources and eventually build an indoor range.

The bill would allow municipalities to join the authority and appoint members to its governing board; the sponsor said the site under discussion is in Homewood and that multiple suburban departments have participated in planning meetings. Committee members raised questions about ownership, employee retirement benefits and tax treatment.

An amendment adopted in committee clarifies that a local taxing entity such as a county commission must pass an ordinance or a resolution in order to abate local taxes for the authority. The amendment also cleans up technical language in several lines of the bill, according to the committee discussion.

Committee members pressed whether employees of the proposed authority could participate in the state's retirement system. A representative of the County Commission Association urged caution but said local governments and authorities typically petition the Retirement Systems of Alabama to join if appropriate: "There's over 900 local government entities that participate in the retirement system. Each local government entity has to petition RSA to join. ... So if this is establishing a separate authority, they could petition RSA, I would think, on their own," the association representative said.

The bill sponsor told the committee he would accept an amendment to permit the authority, on behalf of the employer, to submit whatever documentation is required to the retirement system so that officials can determine eligibility.

After debate the committee adopted the technical and tax-abatement amendments and moved the bill forward as amended.

The committee record does not list a floor date or a full roll-call tally in the hearing transcript; the motion to adopt the amendment and report the bill passed by voice vote.