By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — The first public forum on the proposed seven-millage property tax increase that would fund two new elementary schools in Trussville is Thursday.
The forum is at 5:30 p.m. at the Trussville Civic Center.
Another public forum will be Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Trussville Civic Center. The vote of Trussville residents for or against the seven-millage property tax increase is Tuesday, Feb. 25.
Watch a video promoting the property tax increase here.
Trussville City Schools Superintendent Pattie Neill said the benefits of two new elementary schools are eliminating all portable classrooms at the Paine Elementary Campus, improving school safety with tornado shelters, improving the quality of education with smaller class sizes and increasing property values.
A rendering of what the elementary school in the Cahaba Project will look like, as seen from where Jack Wood Stadium currently stands
photo courtesy of Trussville City Schools
Seven additional mills in property taxes would cost Trussville residents $70 per year on homes appraised at $100,000, $140 per year on homes appraised at $200,000 and $210 per year on homes appraised at $300,000.
The plan is to renovate the city’s original high school in the Cahaba Project and to build a new school near the Magnolia Place subdivision.
“We can’t hold overcrowding at Paine any longer,” Neill said last month. “This particular solution gives us room for growth for many years.”
A rendering of the elementary school that will be built in the Magnolia Place area
photo courtesy of Trussville City Schools
Board President Bill Roberts said it should be stressed to city residents that two new schools will improve traffic congestion in downtown Trussville and other areas. A traffic flow report from Trussville police officer Chuck Bradford shows that 510 vehicles come to the Paine Elementary Campus every morning between 7:15 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. About 27 percent of those vehicles arrive between 7:36 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., according to Bradford’s report. There are also 27 school buses and daycare buses dropping kids off between 7:20 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.
“It is tough to get 500-plus cars around the ring to drop off approximately 847 kids in a 45-plus-minute window along an industrial highway, and that does not include bus traffic,” Bradford said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
