Comeback Town: What do we give up by living in Alabama? Ask Nick Saban

This is an opinion column

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By David Sher

Coach Saban seems to understand what we give up by living in Alabama.

This spring my wife and I attended our grandson’s high school graduation in Atlanta.

We’re so proud because our grandson had been accepted to Georgia Tech.

But then it struck us.

Our Atlanta son and his wife will not have to pay college tuition!

However, our daughter, who lives in Vestavia Hills, will have to pay tuition for both her children.

The State of Georgia awards HOPE Scholarships to qualifying high school seniors.

Students who live in Georgia and earn at least a 3.0 GPA (B average) can attend public colleges or universities in Georgia tuition free if accepted.

“Funded by the Georgia Lottery since its inception in 1993, the HOPE scholarship program has helped more than 2.1 million students at eligible state public and private universities and public technical colleges with over $14 billion of financial assistance.”

Alabama families, unless their children attend Birmingham City Schools, have no comparable scholarship option. Birmingham City Schools do, however, award Birmingham Promise scholarships to all high school graduates to Alabama public colleges or universities free of tuition.

If my Birmingham grandchildren lived in Georgia they would meet the HOPE scholarship criteria and would qualify for free in-state college educations.

Then I got to thinking, what else are we giving up by living in Alabama.

Nick Saban retired to Florida

In January Nick Saban announced his retirement and moved to Jupiter Island, Florida,

There are probably lots of reasons Coach Saban chose Florida, but one of them has to be financial.

Saban paid $17.5 million for his 6,200 square foot homewhich features “marble floors, a floating staircase, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, a private garden, a dock and a boat lift.”

He’s a ‘member at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, one of the state’s top private courses. The ultra-exclusive club requires an initiation fee of $125,000 and $17,300 in annual dues.”

Saban paid $133,020.94 in property taxes last year.

Coach Saban can certainly afford these luxuries–he has an net worth of almost $100 million.

But Saban will be able to pay for many of these niceties from what he’s saving by not living in Alabama.

Florida has no state individual income tax. Alabama’s top income tax rate is 5%.

I certainly don’t know how much Coach Saban earns annually, but let’s make a conservative estimate of $10 million.

He signed a multi-million dollar a year contract with ESPNowns nine car dealershipsis being paid $500,000 a year by the University of Alabama as a consultantand may still be talking to the Aflac duck.

If this estimated income is correct, Coach Saban is saving about $500,000 a year by avoiding Alabama’s income tax. It would be financially insane for Saban to remain in Alabama.

Okay, Coach Saban’s income is extraordinarily large, but what about the rest of us?

Any resident of Alabama who earns $4,500 or more a year, which includes just about everyone, owes Alabama income tax. It may not be enough to encourage you to move out-of-state, but it does add to our cost of living.

And it gets worse

We travel to Destin every year for our family beach vacation. We stay for about a week and buy a lot of groceries. Florida charges no sales tax on groceries. It really hurts when we return home and go to the grocery store and have to pay the sales tax.

But it’s not just groceries. Alabama has the 5th highest sales tax rate in the US

Five states have no sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

Many municipalities around Jefferson County, where I live, charge sales rate of as much as 10%. (State 4%; Jefferson County 1%; municipalities 4-5%)

That 10% rate is more than 93% of the counties in the nation.

The folks in Arab Alabama pay 12.5% sales tax—the highest in the state.

Alabama…

• Offers no tuition free college scholarships
• Imposes as much as a 5% individual income tax (two contiguous states charge none)
• Assess some of the highest sales taxes in the nation

Of course, we have low property taxes which is really good for wealthier folks, but many of them, like Coach Saban, have moved out-of-state.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

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Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. [email protected] .