Irondale abandons plan for 1% occupational tax

They probably figured out that (a) nobody who works in Irondale makes much money as it is, and that (b) the tax would probably drive jobs either into Birmingham proper or into unincorporated areas, of which there are many nearby.

Hey, I'm a liberal. But I've got enough sense to know that when you have a revenue shortfall caused by an economic slowdown and people going elsewhere to buy things, you don't raise taxes. That's just going to drive more people to shop elsewhere.