Baldwin County Commission Chairman Tucker Dorsey pulled a letter of support for two bills currently in the state legislature off the commission’s agenda Tuesday morning, as he felt they lacked the support of the commission to move forward.

The letter was intended to ask legislators in the Baldwin County delegation and around the state to support Senate Bill 180, which addresses expenditure, accounting and reporting requirements for the state department of transportation (ALDOT) and House Bill 394, which seeks to potentially raise Alabama’s taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel to increase the revenue source that is ALDOT’s primary funding mechanism.

Each of the commissioners took time to speak on why they were not going to sign and send the letter of support, with each of them taking aim at ALDOT and a legacy of broken promises the organization has had with Baldwin County.

“We know that we’re a contributor to the state of Alabama in education, general operation and certainly road taxes,” Dorsey said. “While I appreciate the additional funds that could come to the county with an additional gas tax, which would be about $1.5 million to the county, it would also be an additional $6 million to the state of Alabama. The bureaucracy of ALDOT has not shown terrific support for Baldwin County in our capacity and infrastructure needs. Most of the highway needs for our county are the state roads, and I just don’t find we’re getting the needs we have here addressed.”

Dorsey said the roughly six cents per gallon the proposed gas tax hike would bring would generate millions here that wouldn’t come back to Baldwin County in projects.

“We’d be generating money here that would be spent on projects elsewhere and our needs here still would not be met,” Dorsey said. “I’m tired of pulling the wagon for other parts of the state.”

Commissioner Frank Burt said he has spoken to some members of the Baldwin County legislative delegation who had the same concerns with the bill. Burt added he felt other counties needed to do more to pay their own way on roads projects.

“Twenty-six counties in this state, including Baldwin County, pay a local gasoline tax that’s just for their county,” Burt said. “The remainder of the counties do not, but they want money from our county and others like us to pay for their roads and it isn’t fair. It’s a bad bill, bad legislation and it’s bad people who want it passed.”

Commissioner Chris Elliott said he didn’t feel it was right that 67 percent of the gas tax revenue raised in Baldwin County was sent elsewhere in the state.

“While revenue for the state highway department is certainly needed, I don’t think our current Robin Hood approach is the best way to handle that need,” Elliott said. “We’re happy to carry our own weight here in Baldwin County, but I don’t think we should be on the hook for the rest of the state.”

Commissioner Skip Gruber questioned the wisdom on the projects that ALDOT has actually stepped up to fund within the county.

“We’re just not getting what we need out of the state,” Gruber said. “They’re about to spend $20 million on landscaping and medians on the beachfront road, but after this county contributed almost $13.8 million to widen and improve Highway 181 back in the 1990s, they still haven’t done anything they promised there. We’ve had needs they’ve ignored for years, and every time we turn around they say they don’t have the money to do it.”