Circuit Court Judge David Rains held a hearing on November 20, 2009, to address post-judgment issues pending in the Jefferson County occupational tax lawsuit. After three hours of testimony and argument, Judge Rains instructed counsel for the County, as well as the County’s Revenue Director, to work in good faith with the lawyers for the Taxpayers and their designated settlement administrator, to devise a plan for prompt refunds to the Taxpayer Class.
“Judge Rains was clear,” said Sam Hill. “He is ready for the people who paid this tax to receive their refunds. Ed Gentle provided a great starting point. Now we have to fill in the blanks so these refunds can happen.” Added Allen Dodd, who argued on behalf of the Taxpayer Class at the hearing, “I was surprised and happy to hear the County’s lawyers say that they were willing to work in good faith with us toward this end. The next several weeks will be very busy, but I am optimistic that with everyone’s work, we will have a plan in place to make these refunds happen soon.”
While not ruling from the bench, Judge Rains instructed the County to assume he would deny their motion to dissolve the injunction he entered in January and that the money would go back to the Class – not to the County. “As Judge Rains said, we expect the County to appeal and fight every step of the way,” said Jim McFerrin. “While I hope the message Judge Rains made clear from the bench was not lost on the County, I expect they will continue to do all they can to avoid having to comply with the orders of both Judge Rains and the Alabama Supreme Court. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong and we can wrap this up. Time will tell.”
The parties were given time to respond to issues raised by the County the night before the hearing. But, Judge Rains told the parties that addressing those issues was not to be used as a reason for any delay in getting the refund process in place.
For more on this hearing, please see http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2009/11/judge_pushes_jobs_tax_refunds.html
