Jefferson County’s ten biggest checks of the 2023 fiscal year (runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30) went towards schools, rental assistance, and environmental work, according to a list provided by the county’s Public Information Officer Helen Hays.

These ten checks totaled out to around $44 million and nearly half of them are annual payments required by the Alabama’s Sales Tax Act. This law, signed in 2015, states that up to $18 million of Jefferson County sales tax revenue must be distributed to its public-school systems and that up to $3.6 million must be deposited in the Jefferson County Community Service Fund each fiscal year after prioritizing payment on previous warrants, according to its text.