Via the Montgomery Advertiser, Mayor: Tax rate gives new Wal-Mart an unfair advantage

The problem for Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright and for nearby businesses is the new store’s location, just outside the city limits of Montgomery and outside the Pike Road community.

Because of this, the new Wal-Mart can charge 61/2 cents sales tax instead of the 83/4 cents charged by Pike Road or the 10 cents charged by the city of Montgomery.

Merchants within the city of Montgomery, less than a mile from the new Wal-Mart, say this gives the superstore an unfair advantage. Bright says the superstore and other stores that are opening at Chantilly, including Home Depot, are using city resources without paying their fair share.

Bright has said the stores at Chantilly were allowed to hook up to city water and sewer lines, an oversight he said he will ensure does not occur again. These stores will pay the same sewer and water fees as others in the city, but not the taxes that go to build and maintain the utility systems.

Surely the fundamental problem is not that Wal*Mart and Home Depot built outside the city limits, but that the sales taxes inside those limits is 10%. And given that the city runs the water and sewage in parts of the county as well as within the city limits, I am not sure what the overall gripe is. If the mayor wants to attract business, perhaps he ought to persuade the City Council to rethink the insanely high sales taxes.

Further, the general economic development in question is spurring growth within the city limits as well, so I suspect that the overall net result is positive for the city.