Voters say ‘No’ to new school tax

Published 1:40 pm Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Voters in St. Clair County went to the polls on Tuesday, Jan. 30 to vote on a proposed property tax increase that would be earmarked for education. The voting result was a resounding, “No” to the increase.

Out of the 8,764 eligible voters who went to the polls on Tuesday, 3,348 voted for the proposed taxation and 5,308 voted against. There were 107 under votes, meaning individuals who only voted on one of the two proposed taxes on the ballot.

“We will have school as we always do,” Pell City Superintendent Dr. Michael Barber said. “The lights are on, the buses are running…the kids will definitely not know that it was a negative outcome.”

Currently, the millage rate in St. Clair County is 31 mills with 13.5 mills allocated to education. One mill is equal to one-tenth of one cent (.001). The proposed tax increases would have added a total of 8 mills (.008) to current tax rates, bringing the total tax revenue allocated to education in St. Clair County to 21.5 mills.

There were two proposed property tax increases on the ballot.  One was a five mill county school tax, equal to 50 cents on each $100 of the assessed value of taxable property located within the county. The other proposed tax was a three mill district school tax (equal to 30 cents on each $100) of the assessed value of taxable property within St. Clair County School District 1. These districts include Leeds City, Trussville City, Pell City, and St. Clair County schools. 

The only district to vote ‘yes’ to the 3 mill tax was Leeds, with a very small voter turnout and an even smaller margin. Sixty-eight people voted for the proposed taxation and 45 voted against. The Leeds City tax passed and will begin effective Oct. 2017 for the 2018 assessed property taxes due in Oct. 2018.

The school tax increase are in addition to the current property tax rate and will be in effect for public school purposes for a period of 30 consecutive years.

There was concern from those who voted ‘no’ about the allocation of the additional tax funds, where the money would be spent, and the accountability of the county and city school boards on the funds already used in the school system. 

Currently, the Pell City School System ranks 118 out of 137 public schools systems in the state in Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) (total funds per student) according to the Alabama State Department of Education based on an Average Daily Membership (ADM), or number of enrolled students, of 4016. St. Clair County Schools rank 130 for total spending funds per student, including federal, state, and local sources. St. Clair County schools have an average of 8,894 students. 

“We will hopefully have the opportunity to do something down the road,” Dr. Barber said.  “We are very fortunate to have the school system that we have. We have great teachers and they do a great job.”

For a summary of the election results, visit www.stclairco.com/326/Election-Results.