Alabama schools assert claim against British Petroleum

State Superintendent of Education says BP must restore tax revenues to the Education Trust Fund lost due to the negative impact of the oil spill on Alabama's tourism and seafood industries.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama, June 10, 2010 -- The following are comments made by Alabama's State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton regarding the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill's impact on the Education Trust Fund.

"The BP nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico is having and will continue to have a negative effect on the Education Trust Fund (ETF)."

"The ETF is a dedicated fund composed of ten different taxes collected at the state level and dedicated to funding public education in Alabama from Pre-K to Medical School. The primary taxes are personal and corporate income taxes, a 4¢ statewide sales tax, and a utility tax. Each of these has its own unique impact on the ETF. When one or more of these taxes are reduced, the ETF suffers and has less accumulated tax receipts to fund education in Alabama."

"As tourism diminishes along Alabama's Gulf Coast, as the seafood industry is crippled due to the 'no fishing' areas of the Gulf of Mexico, as oyster and shrimping areas are decimated by the oil spill, tax receipts to the ETF will suffer. According to Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennan, as reported in the June 8 Birmingham News, 'tourism numbers are down by 50%.' This obviously means a loss in revenues from income taxes (personal and corporate), sales tax, and utility tax revenues. All four of these taxes are and will continue to be negatively impacted by the BP catastrophe."

"Because of the BP tragedy and the corresponding loss of ETF revenues so far, plus the anticipated growing loss of revenues, I am declaring that I will charge BP with restoring the revenues lost so far as well as future lost revenues to the ETF. I will enlist economic experts outside the Department of Education to work with Dr. Craig Pouncey and his staff to develop an irrefutable economic model of lost revenues to the ETF per month and send BP a bill. Should this method of restoring lost funds to the ETF be challenged or rebuffed by BP, I will institute a court action against BP on behalf of the 745,046 school-aged students in Alabama's public schools to ensure all lost tax receipts are recovered and placed properly in the Education Trust Fund of Alabama's as quickly as possible."

"The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is wreaking havoc on our environment and gulf coast economy. We cannot allow it to also undermine our public schools by reducing the very tax receipts that pay our teachers' salaries and help our classrooms keep the learning environment alive daily."

Source: State of Alabama Department of Education