Photo by Jeff Thompson.
Crestline Elementary students gather in the school’s counseling offices with Karen Lusk-Smith of Mountain Brook Schools and counselor Bonnie Lorino. The school receives much of its funding from Mountain Brook property taxes.
Doug Barton understands the necessity for the property tax rate in Mountain Brook. In fact, Barton believes he wouldn’t be a Mountain Brook resident if it weren’t for the educational opportunities it offers his son James, who is a junior at Mountain Brook High School.
Most prospective homeowners would probably cringe at a property tax rate of 41 percent, but that’s seldom the case for Mountain Brook residents who are keenly aware of the many amenities it creates. And education is at the top of the list for residents raising school-aged children in Mountain Brook.
“I do believe our children receive a high-quality education and have more diverse opportunities in the curriculum offered here,” Barton said.
Karen Lusk-Smith, chief school finance officer with Mountain Brook Schools, said Mountain Brook’s tax structure allows the school system to provide students with what they need to achieve in every aspect of education.
“You move into Mountain Brook and you’re willing to pay the higher millage so that your children are educated,” Lusk-Smith said. “It’s more like a private education in a public school system.”
The result is that Mountain Brook residents appreciate the quality education and other amenities their tax dollars support. “I think our residents do understand what their taxes pay for,” said Steven Boone, city clerk and chief financial officer for Mountain Brook.
“Mountain Brook has a 99 mill property tax rate, and it’s the highest in the state of Alabama,” he said.
Boone explained that property taxes are collected by Jefferson County, with Mountain Brook Schools receiving 34.1 mills of that amount and the City of Mountain Brook receiving 36.7 mills. The city pays 10.6 of what it receives to the Board of Education, for a total of 44.7 going to schools.
The result is that Mountain Brook Schools receives $23.8 million of their current $47.9 million in revenue from property taxes.
The 26.1 mil tax that Boone is left with generates $13.5 million of the general budget, with the remainder coming from sales tax and other sources such as utility and automobile taxes, construction permits and business licenses.
A personal perspective
Lusk-Smith is quick to note that she not only works in Mountain Brook but is also a resident there. Her children, now adults, are products of the Mountain Brook school system, and she praises the education they received.
“Specifically, I think we’re able to spend a lot more on instruction for children,” she said. “I think the huge difference in this school system is that we’re able to provide professional development for our teachers beyond what anybody else does.”
Lusk-Smith said the professional development benefits students daily, with the system spending 80 percent of its funds on instruction and instructional support.
The results are indisputable.
“Our students score the highest in the state on the ACT and SAT tests, which I think is evident of the education that they are provided here,” she said.
“We have more local units than probably anybody else in the state for our size, which means that we pay for them out of local funds,” Lusk-Smith said. “The state doesn’t provide those units for us. Every school system in the state gets an allotted amount of funds based on their enrollment for teaching units.”
Additionally, she said students in Mountain Brook schools are successful because of smaller class sizes that allow for more personal instruction.
“The whole reason most people move to Mountain Brook is to educate their children,” Lusk-Smith said. “After their children graduate from high school and move on to college, we see a lot of people move to an area with a different tax base because they don’t need to pay the higher taxes.”
The quality of life Mountain Brook residents enjoy hasn’t gone unnoticed by others. The national online real estate brokerage firm and blog Movoto recently ranked Mountain Brook No. 8 on its list of Alabama’s Top 10 cities – the only Jefferson County municipality included on the list.
Movoto noted not only Mountain Brook’s student-to-teacher ratios, but also the low crime rates and amenities that include its upscale dining options.
But the emphasis on quality living is evident in many other ways, as reflected in Mountain Brook’s 2014 budget that includes:
$30,000 for public Wi-Fi access in different parts of the city
Spending approximately $212,000 to improve school safety through the installation of a Verizon distributed antenna at two schools
Traffic studies to monitor traffic modifications on U.S. 280 at a cost of $34,000
Projects that include the addition of sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge at a cost of $451,087
$450,000 for the development of Cahaba River Park
A more desirable community
Boone refers to an old adage to support his belief that Mountain Brook’s tax structure makes it an attractive location in which to live.
“Part of what drives real estate values is location, location, location,” he said. “One of the greatest assets of this community is our school system, and because we have a first-rate school system, it attracts people with school-aged kids.”
Boone said Mountain Brook’s retail shops, easy access to downtown Birmingham and residential community also make it appealing.
“All those things add to that sense of community,” Boone said.
The result is that Mountain Brook residents like Barton aren’t worried about the mathematics and red tape of Mountain Brook’s tax structure, focusing instead on the quality of life it offers for him and his son.
“Having lived in various locations in the Birmingham area, I’ve had the opportunity to experience the tax structure and the services provided elsewhere,” he said. “The services we receive as residents of Mountain Brook are top-notch and are delivered as part of the total package.”
