By Chris Basinger, Staff Writer
TRUSSVILLE, Ala.–Trussville City Schools and the City of Trussville are working hard to get the community informed in the lead-up to city-wide special municipal tax election in Trussville next Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The proposed property tax increase would fund three projects in the school system to address the challenges TCS faces with overcrowding in all of its schools as Trussville continues to grow.
The projects include a new elementary school at Glendale Farms, kitchen, cafeteria, gymnasium, and special needs classroom upgrades at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, and the addition of a C-Wing at Hewitt-Trussville High School, which would include over 20 new classrooms.
Ahead of the vote, Mayor Buddy Choat and Superintendent Dr. Patrick Martin have hosted three town hall meetings at Hewitt-Trussville High School and eight town hall meetings with various HOAs in Trussville to answer questions from voters.
They have also met with each school’s PTO as well as TCS faculty and will have town halls at each elementary school.
A website titled TrussvilleTogether.com has also been launched to give voters more resources to learn about the property tax vote.
It features answers to frequently asked questions about the vote and videos of Choat, Martin, and TCS principals detailing both the tax increase and the projects that would be made possible with its approval.
“Some of you may say, ‘Well, I don’t have children in the schools anymore.’ I would challenge you to say, what did other parents do for your children while they were in school,” Choat said in his video.
“This is not an individual, this is Trussville, Trussville together. This is what we do.”
This week, videos of TCS principals talking about how the projects will impact their schools are also being posted on the TCS Facebook page as well as on TrussvilleTogether.com.
Martin spoke on the vote at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting, giving a breakdown of the projects and stressing the importance of getting out and voting.
“When individuals have had questions and reached out to us on social media or email or phone calls I’ve invited them into the office here. I had a couple conversations even today with individuals that just wanted to come in and look and I think that’s very important because that transparency, hopefully, will garner trust with the community of Trussville,” Martin said.
During that time, he mentioned that due to the size of the cafeteria at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School half of the students are eating lunch in classrooms every other day and only have about 10 minutes to eat before the bell rings.
He also discussed a conservative local enrollment projection based on homes being built in the community that could see the capacity utilization of Cahaba and Magnolia rise to over 85% and Paine Elementary School to 103%.
With a new elementary school, the capacity utilization at each school would drop to around 70-80%.
Currently, HTMS utilization is at 88.8% and HTHS is at 105.7%.
The ad valorem tax vote will let voters decide on a proposed 12.9 mill increase.
According to Martin, the millage increase would bring Trussville City Schools in range with other competitive school systems in Alabama as they look to accommodate growing enrollment.
The current millage in Trussville is 62.1, which puts Trussville between Bessemer, 68.7, and Hueytown and Gardendale, both 60.1.
In comparison, Mountain Brook’s millage is 109, Vestavia Hills is 92.6, Homewood is 75, and Hoover is 72.6.
A 12.9 mill increase would bring Trussville’s millage to an even 75.
If approved by voters, annual property taxes would increase by about $129 for a home valued at $100,000 and by $645 for a home valued at $500,000.
The increase would bring in about $90 million in funding over the next 30 years, which would go solely to the three expansion projects.
In 2014, Trussville voted 2,812-1,935 in favor of the 7 mil Trussville School Tax, which funded Magnolia Elementary School and Cahaba Elementary School.
In 2022, Trussville voted in favor of its renewal 1,688-292.
This Thursday, Aug. 22, Choat and Martin will also appear on Tribune Unscripted to discuss the vote.
Tribune Unscripted is broadcast live on Facebook every Thursday at noon and is also available on The Tribune’s website.
A copy of the sample ballot that will be used for the ad valorem tax vote is included below: