Thanks to the Alabama Uniform Severance Tax Act, Dallas County has a new source of revenue to improve its roads.

A portion of the tax collected on severed materials from Dallas County will be given to the county on a quarterly basis.

Severed materials are all natural minerals, including, but not limited to, sand, gravel, sandstone, granite, shale and clay.

This quarter, the county received over $14,000 from this tax fund.

According to Nancy Wilson, Dallas County Financial Director, these funds will be allocated and used by the county for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the its road system.

Other Dallas County Commissioner Meeting updates:

Several new appointments and reappointments were made for the Cahaba River Basin Clean Water Partnership Board, the 911 Board, the South Dallas Water Board, the North Dallas Water Board, and the Public Building Authority Board.

A truck driver for the road department and a correctional officer for the jail were hired.

Don Ingram, assistant principal of Dallas County High School, provided an update on the progress of the Summer Feeding Program.

Nancy Wilson, Dallas County Financial Director, requested that a February budget amendment be approved and that the accounting software that is currently being used by the department, be upgraded professionally.

In addition, she recommended that the commission authorize questioning of the Attorney General on the correct way to calculate sales tax due to the county from the sale of alcoholic beverages. All three requests were approved.

A member of the E-911 Board requested support of House Bill 610. This bill would increase the fee on cell phones by 30 cents. The money gained through this increase would help purchase equipment that would better track the location of people calling 911 from cell phones, and also help balance the E-911 budget.

The county began taking bids for the industrial access road Friday.

Brett Howard, Homeland Security/EMA Director reported that the Homeland Security Grant for this year is the same as last year ($75,000). He also said that FEMA will reimburse 90% of all eligible charges from Hurricane Ivan and the state will cover the other 10%.

Bids will soon be opened to have security cameras placed in the courthouse and main building.

John Kelly III, county attorney, expressed his concern over the lack of adequate security in the courthouse and the abundance of entrances to the building. “Out of all of the courthouses, I’ve been in, they had security for the judge, and one way in and one way out,” said Kelly.

The commissioners agreed with his concerns and promised to keep grant writers on alert for possible grants that could fund security equipment such as x-ray machines.