A Springville member of the St. Clair Board of Education expressed his joy with the passage of the Springville millage tax, which will bring about additional funding for the facilities for schools under the Springville district umbrella.

Mike Hobbs, longtime District 2 member of the St. Clair County BOE and supporter of the tax for the Springville-area schools, wanted to get this passed this election cycle as a parting gift of sorts, before he retires from his post.

Hobbs achieved his goal when the results of the election in St. Clair County were posted online at the Alabama Secretary of State website. The Springville 15 Mill School District Tax was passed by a slim margin, with final results of 50.84 percent yes to 49.16 percent no.

“This is a great day for the students of the Springville system. It is been so needed; we have not had a millage increase for the school system since 1974,” Hobbs said. “We needed this millage rate. Third time’s a charm.”

According to Hobbs, there are many students in the Springville school system which could directly benefit from an uptick in funding for facilities that could levy the fast growth of the area, at least by school classifications.

“In 15 years, we went from 2A (classification) to 6A with no new facilities,” Hobbs said. “That is what great about this tax is it has to be spent on facilities. There is not going to be pay raises; we are not going to buy any special books. It has to be on facilities, tied to a bond which is 30-years old. Anything we do with this money has to last more than 30 years.”

Hobbs will be coming off the school board “very soon,” he said. He will be taking on a new opportunity in Georgia at Georgia Highlands College.

“Springville will always be my home. I married a Springville girl and had Springville babies,” Hobbs said. “I wanted to stay on and see this through. I wanted this to be my last-ditch (effort). There were some tough things that needed to be said. We were going to have to look at redistricting.”

However, with this not being the first time on a ballot, Hobbs also recognizes the benefits Springville could have had, only if it had passed sooner rather than now.

“If it would have passed three years ago, we could have done a lot more with that millage rate we are getting,” he said. “If we would have that three years ago (before COVID), we would have gotten better prices and cheaper labor.”

Hobbs said that the 15 millage rate means it will affect property owners, in which each $100,000 of property in the Springville School District accrues a tax of $150 annually. It only affects property owners, not renters, in theory.

Additionally, Hobbs said the higher tax will be offset by higher property value.

“Even if you don’t have kids in the system, your property just got worth a lot more,” Hobbs said.

Conversely, another item on the ballot of similar interest did not pass, when Odenville’s 10 Mill School District Tax failed by final results of 56.21 percent no to 43.79 percent yes, according to the Alabama Secretary of State website.

Adam Dodson may be reached at adamd@athensnews-courier.com.