Council sets date for schools tax referendum
Mountain Brook residents will decide Sept. 24 if they want to pay higher property taxes for the sake of the city’s schools.
On Monday, the Mountain Brook City Council set the fourth Tuesday in September as the date for a referendum to determine if the city raises its ad valorem property tax by 10 mills.
The increase would generate around $6 million in annual revenue, according to Mountain Brook Schools Superintendent Dicky Barlow, and all of it would benefit the school system.
Most of that money would fund capital improvements at the city’s six public schools while also financing enhancements in school safety and quality.
“We’re not asking that there be brand new schools built,” Barlow told Village Living earlier this month. “We’re saying we just need to upgrade our schools, make sure our students are safe and continue to stay great.”
Mills are calculated as the amount of tax paid per $1,000 of assessed property value. According to Barlow, an increase means that owners of a $500,000 home would pay around $500 more annually in property taxes, while owners of a $1 million home would pay $1,000 more.
The measure would pass with an affirmative simple majority vote, 51% to 49%, city officials said. Mountain Brook has not held a referendum to raise its ad valorem tax rate since 1991, when the increase passed with about 90% public approval.
Barlow and city officials have said they are confident that residents will vote with similar enthusiasm this time around.
“Even if they don’t have children in the school system, I think a lot of people recognize that the value in their own homes and the community run side by side with the quality of the school system,” City Council President Virginia Smith said.
The council voted unanimously in February to ask the state Legislature for approval to hold a referendum. State Sen. Jabo Waggoner sponsored a bill allowing the city to do so, and it passed through the House and Senate this spring.
If residents approve the millage increase, residents would begin paying higher property taxes in 2020. The funds would enable Mountain Brook Schools to make about $60 million in improvements over the next 16 to 20 years, Barlow said.
Also on Monday, the council agreed to pay up to $20,000 to Kadco, LLC, upon completion of public improvements it is making along Poe Drive, near the city’s border with Vestavia Hills. Kadco has been contracted by the city of Vestavia Hills to install a sidewalk along the eastern side of Poe Drive.
Kadco President Charles Kessler asked Mountain Brook to help cover a fraction of the costs because of its proximity to the sidewalk and benefit to residents.
Additionally, the council on Monday voted to pay $10,000 to the American Green Zone Alliance and Quiet Communities to fund a study of the city’s use of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
According to Mayor Stewart Welch, the groups will complete their work this summer before delivering a sustainability impact report to the city. The report will outline the environmental, health and noise impacts of gas-powered equipment and compare them to those of battery-powered equipment.
Welch said Mountain Brook is one of the first cities in the Southeastern U.S. to consider swapping some of its gas-powered equipment for battery-powered equipment.
“I think we ought to give it a try,” Welch said. “We need a leader in the South.”
In other business, the council:
- Agreed to enter a contract with Iron City Stone for $5,000 to construct a stone column on Old Leeds Lane at Cherokee Bend. According to City Manager Sam Gaston, a resident donated an old “Cherokee Bend” plaque to the city. The plaque will adorn the column, which will be 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall. Private donors are contributing $1,000 toward the project, so the city is only on the hook for $4,000. “It’s going to be nice,” Gaston said.
- Approved a resolution authorizing Gaston to offer continuing medical coverage to eligible employees with 20 years of city service at any age or with 10 years of service who are eligible for retirement benefits and who elect to retire between July 31, 2019, and May 31, 2020.
- Received notification from Welch that he appointed Barney Lanier to the city’s Planning Commission.
- Approved a resolution adopting the Personnel Board of Jefferson County’s 2018-19 Classification Survey, which yielded no changes.
- Approved the minutes from its June 10 meeting.
The Mountain Brook City Council will hold its next meeting on July 8.