Schools vote set for this month

Mountain Brook residents will decide this month if they want to pay higher property taxes for the sake of the school system.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, residents will have the opportunity to vote in a citywide referendum that will determine if the ad valorem property tax rate increases by 10 mills.

Mountain Brook Schools Superintendent Dicky Barlow has said the leap would generate an additional $6 million in revenue for his district. That money would help fi nance capital improvements at each of the city’s six schools, along with enhancements in both safety and quality. Every school in the city is at least 50 years old.

“We’re not asking that there be brand new schools built,” Barlow said. “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 per $1,000 of assessed property value, so an increase means that owners of a $500,000 home would pay $500 more in annual property tax and owners of a $1 million home would pay $1,000 more. An affi rmative simple majority vote, 51% to 49%, is needed for the measure to pass. The last time Mountain Brook held a referendum to raise its ad valorem tax rate, in 1991, the increase passed with around 90% public approval, Barlow said. City Clerk Steve Boone said that polls will be open Sept. 24 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations include Mountain Brook City Hall, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Canterbury United Methodist Church, Cherokee Bend Elementary School, Brookwood Baptist Church and Mountain Brook Community Church.