Story By Katie Hightower

On April 16, Commission Chairman, Bill Nance gave the annual State of the County address to a full crowd at Goose Pond Civic Center. In the speech, Nance discussed Jackson County’s growth, financial status, projects that were completed, upcoming projects and Jackson County’s Economic Resiliency Plan. After his address to the crowd, Nance recognized Captain Cecil Wells for his service to Jackson County.

Prior to the address, attendees were served a breakfast by Glass House Catering paid for by sponsors including Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Highlands Medical Center, CFD Research, the City of Scottsboro, HTPG, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Wiregrass Construction, Jackson County, Citizens Bank & Trust and Mr. Rooter Plumbing. 

Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Brian Presson, welcomed the crowd. Pastor Dustin Henshaw of Happy Home Missionary Baptist Church gave the invocation. Jim Barclay led the crowed in the Pledge of Allegiance and Sawyer McWilliams of Scottsboro High School sang the National Anthem. 

Ashely Poole, President of Highlands Medical Center presented Jackson County Commission Chairman, Bill Nance, to the crowd. 

“It’s my pleasure to present today’s speaker, Major General, Willie B. Nance Jr., retired of the United State Army and our Jackson County Commission Chairman,” Poole said. She then read a brief synopsis of Nance’s biography and accomplishments prior to his service as the county’s commission chairman.

Nance said Jackson County grew from 52,548 in 2020 to 53,467 in 2023 and property values increased from around $540,000,000 in 2022 to $620,000,000 in 2024. He said the total workforce for the county consisted of 17,536 individuals and the unemployment rate was 3.3%. Manufacturing was the largest contributor at to the workforce at 31% with retail trade at 17% and healthcare at 12%. Nance said in 2023, Jackson County’s Gross Domestic Product was $1,882,052,000 with manufacturing at $708M, Retail Trade at $190M, Healthcare at $152M and Real Estate at $106M. Nance said agriculture contributed $276M to Jackson County’s economy and tourist spending contributed $91M.

Financially, the county was budgeted to have $32,179,199 in revenue and $31,554,060 in expenditures for FY2025. The General Fund was expected to have $11,377,046 in revenue and $11,109,091 in expenditures for FY2025. Ad Valorem taxes was expected to bring in $2.98M, TVA in lieu of taxes was expected to bring in $1.6M, Simplified Sellers Use Tax was $1.7M and Revenue Commission Fees was $2.82M.

In his address, Nance spoke about administrative work at the courthouse. The probate office handled 250 estate cases, 1500 state business licenses, 1,000+ hunting and fishing licenses, 3,000+ boat registrations and over 10,000 documents including mortgages, deeds, easements and liens. He said the office handled 65 adoptions and 165 guardian and conservatorships. In addition the probate office recording marriage licenses, soldier discharges and powers of attorneys, the probate office managed the 2024 elections with 30 polling places and the November election resulted in a 58% voter turnout. Nance said the Revenue Commissioner’s office collected $27M in property taxes in 2024 and $3.5M in ad valorem taxes in 2024. 

Nance then gave an update on the Sheriff’s Office which had 56 employees and 20 reserve unit volunteers. He said the sheriff’s office had a new patrol/rescue boat, off-road vehicle and body armor. Nance said the Jackson County Jail had 38 employees that managed the average population of 160 inmates. He said 1,811 inmates were booked in FY2024 and 71% of deputies completed Jail Management School.

Nance then updated the audience on the work of the Solid Waste Department. It now has an exemption policy for those on Social Security and Disability which expanded to include poverty level residents. Nance said the Solid Waste Department covered 14,000 Residential Customers and 250 Commercial Customers. He said the Solid Waste Department had three new trucks for residential service and two new trucks for commercial. He said thanks to the ADEM Unauthorized Dump right of Way grant, the department was able to clean up four dump sites and remove 25 tons of refuse. Also, the Solid Waste Department was able to collect 4,115 tires as a result of the ADEM Scrap Tires Right of Way Grant.

Nance said Jackson County Parks and Recreation updated park Wi-Fi, resurfaced nine boat docks/slips, installed new playground equipment at North Sand Mountain Park and coordinated with TVA for eelgrass maintenance. He said in the future, the park planned to upgrade walking trails and the Civitan Pavilion. 

Nance said the Department of Public Works resurfaced 35.56 miles of roads in 2024 which was an increase to the 20.25 miles in 2021. Public Works also completed the $2.5M County Road 38 slope failure repair project and began work on the $5.8M slope failure repair project at County Road 93. The Department of Public Works received $1.22M in grants in 2024.

Then Nance spoke about the services provided by the Jackson County Council on Aging. He said there were six senior centers throughout the county which served seniors ages 60 and older with over 10,380 meals served per month. He said transportation services had six new vehicles and provided 15,402 trips in FY2024. He said the Senior RX program and State Health Insurance Assistance Programs saved seniors hundreds of thousand of dollars in FY 2024. The COA received $129,530 in TARCOG funding support and $329,200 from ALDOT’s transportation grant.

With the storms in May 2024, Jackson County saw six confirmed tornadoes. They caused $4.8M of damage to Jackson County homes with 55 damaged and 12 destroyed. The tornadoes caused $4.4M of damage to 10 businesses. Nearly 28,000 cubic yards of debris were hauled away at a cost of $387,849.96.

Due to the importance of timely severe weather notifications, Nance said Jackson County’s EMA, Commission and the Scottsboro Electric Power Board petitioned the FCC to switch Jackson County’s designated market area from Chattanooga to Huntsville. He said there was strong support from the state and federal delegations to make the switch which happened on Oct. 3, 2024.

Nance said the county was blessed to welcome back Director Colby Gann to the Maintenance Dept. from his recent hospitalization. Nance said Jackson County received $10,027,745 from the American Rescue Plan and 100% of that money was obligated and 53% was expended. A majority of the money went to courthouse upgrades and courthouse annex upgrades. The total cost of courthouse renovations was about $3.7M. 

The Jackson County Courthouse Annex will be home to the Jackson County Cooperative Extension, Community Action, the Revenue Commissioner, Mapping and Appraisal, the Probate Judge and the driver’s license office. The building on 205 Liberty Lane in Scottsboro will open in the summer of 2025. It will have 125 parking spaces with handicapped parking and it will serve as a one-stop-shop for county administrative service

The commission was awarded a $150k grant from the US Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration to develop an Economic Resiliency Plan with a match of $37k. The commission awarded the bid to develop the plan to KPS Group. Together with a Steering Committee, the plan was drafted and later adopted by the commission. The county’s population was estimated to grow between 20-30% over the next 15 years especially along US Hwy 72 from Madison County. Those interested in seeing the plan may visit https://jacksoncountyal.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1301/Jackson-County-Resiliency-Plan-Adopted

“Jackson County offers features people look for when choosing a place to live: affordability, good schools, a safe place to live, a strong sense of community and access to the great outdoors,” Nance said. “Those attributes have a significant and positive effect on the growth we are seeing in our county.”

Nance then ended his address by expressing his gratitude to the volunteers of Jackson County who helped with food assistance, the schools, civic organizations, fire departments, police departments and sheriff’s office. He then recognized Reserve Capt. Cecil Wells for his decades of service to the county through his volunteer work with the sheriff’s office and tree commission since 1971. Wells was then awarded the Jackson County Volunteer of the Year by the commission.

Nance said, “As we look forward, I remain convinced there are great opportunities for Jackson County and working together, we can realize them. Thank you.”