Ala. Code § 45-59-242: Collection of Tax; Enforcement.

(a) The one and a half percent sales taxes levied by the St. Clair County Commission shall constitute a debt due St. Clair County and may be collected as provided by law. The taxes, together with interest and penalties with respect thereto, shall constitute and be secured by a lien upon the property of any person from whom the taxes are due or who is required to collect the taxes. All of the provisions of the revenue laws of this state which apply to the enforcement of liens for license taxes due to this state shall apply fully to the collection of such taxes and the State Department of Revenue, for the use and benefit of St. Clair County, shall collect such taxes provided they parallel the state sales tax law and enforce this section and shall have and exercise for such collection and enforcement all rights and remedies that this state or the department has for collection of the state sales tax. The State Department of Revenue shall have full authority to employ special counsel as the department deems necessary from time to time to enforce collection of the taxes, and to otherwise enforce this section, including any litigation involving this section; and the department shall pay such special counsel such fees as the department deems necessary and proper from the proceeds of the tax collected by it for St. Clair County.

(b) All provisions of the state sales tax statutes with respect to payment, assessment, and collection of the state sales tax, making of reports and keeping and preserving records with respect thereto, penalties for failure to pay the tax, the promulgation of the rules and regulations with respect to the state sales tax, and the administration and enforcement of the state sales tax statutes, which are not inconsistent with this section when applied to the taxes levied by the St. Clair County Commission shall apply to the collection of the tax. The state Commissioner of Revenue and the State Department of Revenue shall have and exercise the same powers, duties, and obligations with respect to the county taxes that are imposed on the commissioner and department, respectively, by the state tax statutes. All provisions of the state sales tax statutes that are made applicable by this section to the county taxes and to the administration and enforcement of this section are hereby incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof as if fully set forth herein.

(c) The State Department of Revenue shall charge St. Clair County for collecting the sales taxes collected under this section such amount or percent-age of total collections as may be agreed upon, the Commissioner of Revenue and the St. Clair County Commission, but such charge shall not, in any event, exceed 10 percent of the total amount of the sales taxes collected in the county under this section. The charge for collecting such sale taxes may be deducted each month from the gross revenues from such sale taxes before certification of the amount of the proceeds thereof due St. Clair County for that month. The Commissioner of Revenue shall pay into the State Treasury all taxes collected under this section, as such taxes are received by the Department of Revenue, and on or before the first day of each successive month (commencing with the month following the month in which the department makes the first collection hereunder), the commissioner shall certify to the state Comptroller the amount of taxes collected under this section and paid by him or her into the State Treasury for the benefit of St. Clair County during the month immediately preceding such certification. Provided, however, that before certifying the amount of the taxes paid into the State Treasury for the benefit of St. Clair County during each month, the commissioner may deduct from the taxes collected in the month the charge due the department for the collection of the taxes for the county. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to issue his or her warrant each month payable to the county Treasurer of St. Clair County in his or her official capacity in an amount equal to the amount so certified by the Commissioner of Revenue as having been collected for the use of the county.