Ala. Code § 11-50B-5
Every public provider furnishing cable service or telecommunications service in the exercise of authority granted under the provisions of this chapter shall maintain books and records of its operations reflecting all costs, including direct costs and indirect costs, of providing the cable service or telecommunications service, as the case may be, in accordance with generally accepted governmental accounting principles. Books and records maintained pursuant to the provisions of this section shall disclose the sources and amounts of capital, including working capital, employed in the provision of cable service or telecommunications service, as the case may be. No part of the capital costs incurred or capital expenditures made, or the operating expenses paid, by a public provider in the provision of cable service or telecommunications service, as the case may be, in the exercise of authority granted under this chapter shall be paid from revenues derived from state or local taxes or from appropriations of the state, a county, or a municipality. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing contained in this chapter shall preclude public providers furnishing cable service or telecommunications service, as the case may be, in the event of a disaster as declared by county, state, or federal officials or authorities, from using emergency relief funds obtained from any source in the repair or restoration of their cable systems, telecommunications equipment, and telecommunications systems, and nothing contained herein shall preclude a municipality, municipal department or agency, public corporation, board, or authority that is an agency, department, or instrumentality of a municipality, public school, or other governmental entity from paying a public provider for a service furnished by the public provider in the exercise of authority granted under this chapter from revenues derived from state or local taxes or from appropriations of the state, a county, or a municipality.
Ala. Code § 11-50B-5 (1975)