By Crystal McGough, Associate Editor
SPRINGVILLE – Four St. Clair County and Springville school leaders joined host Clayton Martin on a Facebook Live Q&A on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, to discuss a proposed 15-mill property tax increase that will appear on the ballot at the upcoming Nov. 8 general election. The proposed tax is intended to go toward building a new school in the Springville school district.
SCC Superintendent Justin Burns, along with principals Dr. Greg Moore (Springville High School), James Talton (Springville Middle School) and Chris Hill (Springville Elementary School) answered questions from the public on how the tax increase would help local schools, as well as how it would affect taxpayers.
One of the first questions asked was who would be able to vote on the tax.
SHS Principal Moore said that this vote will only be for individuals who live in areas zoned for Springville schools, including residents who are zoned for Margaret Elementary.
“It’s not about the Springville city limit,” Moore said. “It is the Springville school zones. … Your residence, if it is in the school zone of Springville Schools, then you will vote and have an opportunity to say whether you’re for or against the vote that we have for our schools.”
Another question Martin said he received from the public was concerning whether the mill increase would remain only for the life of the bond and then decrease once the bond is paid off.
“This vote is for a 30-year mill increase, regardless of the life of the bond,” Burns said. “But the bond will be a 30-year bond. … This is called a sunshine clause of 30 years, so in 30 years, the school district here will have the opportunity to vote … to bring it back up again to keep it or not. And this is common in a lot of school systems. … A lot of people realize that once they’ve passed something like this and the school benefits from it and you see where it goes, that it’s a continuation and people understand the importance.”
To clarify, Burns explained that a bond is “an investor’s opportunity to purchase a debt opportunity,” and said that St. Clair County Schools has a very good bond rating.
The increase, if passed, would bring in roughly $2.2 million of revenue, he said. Based on that, St. Clair County Schools could borrow 80% of the bond opportunity, which would be around $28 million.
“You can’t borrow 100% of what you’re going to bring in,” Burns said. “So, when you speak about the bond, the bond is that 80% that can only go towards capital improvement. So, once you issue a bond, that can’t go towards salaries, it can’t go towards any perishable-type thing. It has to go towards capital improvement.”
In this case, “capital improvement” specifically means a new school building in Springville, proposed to be a new middle school that will feed into Springville High School.
When asked what exactly Springville would get if the 15-mill tax increase passes, SMS Principal Talton said, very clearly, “A building.”
“We need room for students, that’s essentially it,” he said. “Whether it houses (grades) 6-7-8 (or) 7-8-9, that’s to be determined. We’re just out of room in all three schools.”
Talton said Springville schools have already had to get rid of a computer lab to make space for a fifth-grade class.
SEM Principal Hill added that, if a new middle school is built, there are potential future plans to remodel the old middle school building into an intermediate school.
In November 2021, the residents of Springville voted down a similar 15-mill property tax increase. That proposal, however, also included a brand-new fine arts theater and upgrades to the football stadium.
Talton said, this time, the focus is only on the new school building.
“The primary need is just room for kids in classrooms,” he said. “So that’s our focus right now; nothing more at this point. That’s the number one need that we have to address before we can address anything else.”
For anyone confused on what a “mill” is, or how to determine how much extra they would have to pay in property taxes if this passes in the election, Burns explained that a “mill” means one-millionth, which would be equal to $10 for every $100,000.
“A mill is … a percentage of the value that you pay in property tax,” he said. “So, as you increase a mill, it’s only that small percent.”
Additionally, Burns said the amount each household will pay for the tax will depend on their homestead’s assessed value. It will be a 15-mill increase on whatever their property’s assessed value is.
“If you have a $100,000 assessed value, 15 mil of 100,000 is $150 a year,” he said. “If it’s $200,000, it’s $300 a year. But for those that get confused … call the revenue office, give them your address, and say, ‘If this tax millage passes in Springville, what’s it going to cost me?’ And they can give you almost to the dollar amount what it’s going to cost you.”
Burns said that any mention of raising taxes or asking people to give financially is very difficult.
“I’ve heard this over the years … that this is a county school system and it’s a county school problem,” he said. “Well, the reality is that we’ve grown so fast that we can’t really address all those needs financially … And so, this has really become an individual community problem. … It really, at the end of the day, falls on the school system to provide this, but we can’t.”
Burns said that he categorizes this as a “legacy vote,” a way for parents to show their children that this is something important and worth investing in.
“One day, they’re going to tell their kids that the stance that their parents took for their community is why this exists,” he said. “And then they’re going to pass that on to their kids.”
St. Clair County residents zoned for Springville schools can make their voices heard at the general election on Nov. 8. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and the ballot will give voters the specific option of saying they are “for” or “against” the tax increase.
Contact Crystal McGough at mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com