Comeback Town: What did 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 are very proud that our grandson has been accepted to Georgia Tech.

But then it occurred to us.

Our son from Atlanta and his wife won’t have to pay college tuition!

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

Georgia State Awards HOPE Scholarships for qualified high school seniors.

Students who live in Georgia and have a GPA of at least 3.0 (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 qualified public and private state universities and public technical colleges with more than $14 billion in financial assistance.”

Alabama families, unless their children attend Birmingham city schools, have no comparable scholarship option. Birmingham city schools, however, grant Birmingham Promise scholarships for all high school seniors at Alabama public colleges or universities, tuition free.

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

So I started thinking: What else are we giving up by living in Alabama?

Nick Saban retired in Florida

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

There are probably many reasons why Coach Saban chose Florida, but one of them is 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 is a “member of the Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, one of the state’s premier private courses. The ultra-exclusive club requires a $125,000 initiation fee 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 a estimated net worth of almost US$ 100 million.

But Saban will be able to pay for many of those amenities with what he’s saving by not living in Alabama.

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

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

He signed a multi-million dollar per year contract with ESPNit has nine car dealershipsis being paid $500,000 a year by the University of Alabama as a consultantand can I’ll still be talking to the Aflac duck.

If this estimated income is correct, Coach Saban is saving about $500,000 per year by avoiding Alabama income taxes. It would be financially insane for Saban to remain at Alabama.

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

Any resident of Alabama who earns $4,500 or more per yearwhich includes almost everyone, owes Alabama income tax. It may not be enough to encourage you to move out of state, but it does increase 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 do a lot of shopping. Florida does not charge sales tax on food. It’s very painful when we come home, go to the supermarket and have to pay sales tax.

But it’s not just supplies. Alabama has the 5º higher sales tax rate In the USA

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

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

This 10% rate is more than 93% of the counties in the country.

The people in Arab Alabama pays 12.5% sales tax — the highest in the state.

Alabama…

• Does not offer free college scholarships
• Imposes an individual income tax of up to 5% (two contiguous states levy nothing)
• Consider some of the highest sales taxes in the country

Sure, we have low property taxes, which is great for the wealthy, but many of them, like Coach Saban, have moved out of state.

David Sher is the founder and editor of City of Return. He is a 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 to your group for free about how we can have a more prosperous Birmingham metropolitan area. [email protected] .