By Hannah Curran, Editor
IRONDALE — The City of Irondale held a Special Election on Tuesday, March 22, to “Build a Brighter Future for the City of Irondale.”
Citizens voted on a proposed six mill property tax increase to help fund capital improvements in the city, such as improvements to parks, public facilities, and paving. The results showed 1,043 citizens voted yes and 352 citizens voted no. The property tax increase will take effect in 2023 and will sunset in 2029.
Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. thanked voters for placing their trust in city leadership and vowed to immediately work on bringing the Blueprint Irondale Comprehensive Plan to life.
“Which means that 75 percent of the wonderful citizens in the city of Irondale believe in this administration and want to be able to build a brighter future in the city of Irondale,” Stewart said.
The tax increase allows the city of Irondale to continue its paving program, develop its parks and green space, and improve its public facilities.
Related Story: City of Irondale votes on tax increase
The tax increase is six mills which Stewart said is equivalent to an average home price in Irondale is $142,500. Six mills are equivalent to $84 annually and only $7 a month.
“We had a comprehensive plan performed on the city in 2021, and it was adopted in December 2021,” Stewart said in an earlier interview. “This comprehensive plan was a survey to about 1,200 citizens for them to share with us what they want the city to look like over the next five to 15 years, there were 85 items that were a part of the plan that they requested we implement.”
To implement these items, the city needed funds, and Irondale wanted to set aside a separate restricted fund to be used only for those items. So the citizens could see exactly what their money was going for.
The tax will be in effect for six years, and it’s projected to raise about 1.5 million dollars a year if approved.
“We’re looking for about $9 million over a six-year period to come in; in 2029, it sunsets,” Stewart said in an earlier interview. “So if the people are not happy with the way that we have been stewards over the funds, then they do not have to enact it and put it back into play.”
Irondale has a plan called “22 in 22.” It has 22 items that the city has set as a goal to accomplish, which came out of “Blueprint Irondale,” the comprehensive plan.