Alabama

Decision instrument

The state may not take on new debt unless the voters amend the constitution. A temporary loan may not exceed $300,000.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Constitution of Alabama of 2022, Section 213, as amended by Amendment 26. The exceptions written into that section are invasion, insurrection, a refunding of existing bonded debt, and a temporary loan of not more than $300,000. The examiners’ bond report says a general-obligation issue is made by a constitutional amendment: three-fifths of all the members of each house, then a majority of the voters in a statewide election. There is no covenant that stops the state from authorizing more of these bonds later. The courts have held that the ban does not cover this year’s operating bills, or debt of a separate public corporation.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts publishes a bond-indebtedness report for the year ended September 30, 2025. The annual financial report points to that report for the bond detail. County dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A county stops at 3.5% of assessed value. A city under 6,000 people stops at 5%. A larger city stops at 7%.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Constitution Sections 224 and 225. A county already over 3.5% may add another 1.5%. A city under 6,000 may add 3% for water, gas, electric light, sewers, or streets. School, water, and sewer bonds, and street work charged to the abutting property, are left out of the 7% for a larger city. A loan paid within the year, of not more than one-fourth of the year’s revenue, is outside the city limit. Bonds issued under a general law need a majority of the qualified voters. The courts have held that interest-bearing warrants are not that vote. A separate amendment lets a county or a city borrow for economic development up to 50% of assessed value, and that debt is not counted against these caps.

Conflict rule

A public official may not use the office to get a personal gain for the official, a family member, or a business the official is tied to.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? Code of Alabama § 36-25-5. A member of a legislative body may not vote on a matter the member knows, or should know, is a conflict. For that vote, a conflict includes an interest greater than 5% of a business that the legislation uniquely affects, and it includes being an officer or director of that business. The 5% is that voting test. It is not a ban on owning 5% of any business.

Geography

Sixty-seven counties.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? Census county codes 01001 through 01133. County seats are not in the bond report, so they are not filled in. Cities and public corporations also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

General obligation bond principal: $382.685 million, as of September 30, 2025. Unamortized premium is $24.641 million.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Examiners’ bond report, Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 6. The seven series still outstanding add to $382,685,000 of principal. Of that, $15,550,000 is a direct-placement series and is included, not added again. The payable, with the premium the report prints, is $407,326,256. No general-obligation bonds were issued during the year. Principal paid was $47,660,000. The year opened at a payable of $460,058,895. These bonds pledge the full faith and credit of the state. They were authorized by constitutional amendments the voters approved.

Who pays the coupon

In the year ending September 30, 2026, these bonds need $49.770 million of principal and $16.456 million of interest.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? Exhibit 9. The payment of principal and interest together is $66,226,303. Remaining interest on the $382.685 million is $112,522,485. For most of the series, the report says the money can be taken from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund or the General Fund, and neither fund is specifically pledged. The 2022-A series is different. A debt-service fund is pledged for that series, and the transfers into it come from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund.

Other obligors

Revenue bonds of public corporations: $5.595 billion. The report says these are not debts of the state.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? Exhibit 12, September 30, 2025. The corporations include the highway authorities, the port, the housing finance authority, the corrections institution authority, the public school and college authority, and others. Principal and interest are paid from a pledged tax or from the revenue of the enterprise, not from a pledge of the full faith and credit of the state. State officers often sit on the boards. That does not make the bonds a debt of the state, and they are not added to the $382.685 million. One highway series of $415.270 million is treated as retired in the figures, but it is still legally outstanding until it is redeemed in 2036. It is not added either.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.