The State of the County Address was held Thursday morning, February, 13th at the Cherokee Chamber Office, located on the Campus of Gadsden State Cherokee Campus.
Breakfast was served, before Joy Perry, the Executive Director of the Chamber began the event by holding prayer, and led those in attendance with the Pledge. Perry then went on to recognize people in attendance including, members present of the Chamber Board of Directors, Leadership Cherokee, elected officials, the media, and staff of Gadsden State.
Perry then introduced the Key Note Speaker for the event, Probate Judge and Council Chair, Tim Burgess. Chairman Burgess is one of 13 officials in the state to hold both titles. Burgess began his address, titled “ State of the County,” by telling the story of when he found out he was appointed to the office of Probate Judge by Governor Kay Ivey. (With a portion of the story involving a spot on impression of the Governor)
Burgess address went into financial details for the County Government for the 2024 year. He began by addressing Ad Valorem Tax Distributions for the 2024 Tax year.
He then broke down the numbers on the County Sales Tax rate and percentage, and how incoming tax revenue has compared to inflation.
Burgess demonstrated that since 2020 where sales tax amounted to8,540,129.00, they had grown this year to 10,324,950.00. The best news in that, was how the taxes had outpaced inflation. With 6.77 percent growth over inflation during that period. Burgess called that “Real Growth” and “Positive.”
He went on to explain the county needs to keep growing, or it would fall behind. That the good news is, we are seeing the county continue to grow. He then addressed Lodging Tax
And the Highway Departments Fiscal Year
Burgess demonstrated how much it cost for a county to pave roadways, broken down by cost per mile depending on the material used in the paving. Many people may for example find it surprising that asphalt can cost up to an average cost of 108,903.64 a mile.
Some good news on the unemployment front, is that Cherokee County is performing better than the state or national average. Cherokee County currently is at 2.7% unemployment. The state of Alabama is at 3.3%, and the national average is 4.1%.
Burgess then updated the crowd on the construction progress of the new Court House project. He stressed the importance of the new building to the community, and the justified need due to the poor condition of the current location. He said it is more than a building, but a “System of Law” that is shows the area cares about “Law Abiding citizens” and that he was “Very Proud of the investment in our County.”
Burgess described they layout of the new Courthouse, and said one big positive would be the Circuit , Probate, and Juvenile courts having their own chamber areas to operate in.
Burgess addressed a concern many had expressed, with what would happen with the old building once the project was completed. He assured the crowd, that the old building would be preserved and would not be torn down. It will be kept for use in the community and the history protected. He also addressed the old admin building, and said it would be repurposed in some way. That those discussions would happen soon, that they were working in phases.
The original bid on the building that won, was for 16.1 Million Dollars with Consolidated Construction out of Huntsville. Burgess talked about the bid process, and the selling of bonds to fund the project. He went on to note, that in the selling of the bonds, they received orders amounting to 55,000,000. This drove the interest rate for the County down to 4.6 percent.
He went on to say there would be plans made for a big celebration when it came time for the grand opening of the new Courthouse, saying it is “A great thing for our county and the city of Centre.” He said the commission is looking forward to future projects, that “The Lord is Blessing our Community” and assured people that “We work for the citizens.”
Burgess went on to address each municipality and the tax distribution related to each. He said it took all the cities working together, and that he “appreciates our municipalities.” He also thanked the Sheriff and the work he does for the community.
When Burgess finished his address, which he had imposed a time limit on himself, because he was due in court, Joy Perry returned to the podium and dismissed the crowd. Overall, the address was good news for the county and was very positive in tone. If you wish to listen to Burgess speech in its entirety in its entirety, a file is attached below, as well as a gallery of photos from the event.
