SPANISH FORT – City Council members are ready to decide on the agreement to set a three-mill school tax referendum before presenting the request to the Baldwin County Board of Education in early June.
At a special council meeting on May 13, council members discussed the terms of the contract with the Baldwin County Board of Education to determine how the funds from a proposed three-mill tax for Spanish Fort schools would be administered and spent. Council members agreed on the proposed wording for most issues that they had questioned in earlier meetings.
Mayor Mike McMillan said the council would vote on the agreement at the next regular meeting, set May 20. The board must approve the agreement before the issue can be sent to the County Commission for a referendum date to be set.
While the council meeting comes after the May meeting of the Board of Education, the board has scheduled a special meeting for June 6 to discuss issues for the upcoming school year, Superintendent of Education Eddie Tyler said Thursday.
The mayor said he did not want to decide on a major issue at a meeting that was not on the regular schedule.
“The other side of that and one that we’ve always tried to shy away from here in Spanish Fort is adopting major policy at a special-called meeting,” McMillan said. “We’ve tried to do it at a regular meeting, just for the appearance that we’re not trying to slide something under the door. We’ve always taken that process.”
McMillan said the June 6 board meeting will give county election officials time to schedule a September referendum if the City Council and board approve the agreement.
At the May 13 meeting, City Attorney David Conner said most of the issues raised by council members have been resolved. The council wanted wording in the agreement that would require that any money raised by the tax be spent for academics and not for athletics, construction or other uses. City officials also wanted a ban on the money being used as security for bonds, which would tie up revenue in the future.
One issue that board officials insisted be in the agreement was that the Baldwin County superintendent of education would have to agree to submit any proposals on how the money was spent to the Board of Education, Conner said. He said, however, that the agreement also states that the Spanish Fort Education Commission, which will be appointed by the City Council, must approve how the money is spent.
“No special tax proceeds shall be used by the board unless the expenditure has been approved by the commission,” Conner said. “That was the language that we added.”
City Councilman J.R. Smith said he was still concerned about the wording that required county approval for spending money raised in Spanish Fort to local schools.
“If you ask, am I comfortable, I think I can get comfortable,” Smith said. “If you ask am I happy, no I don’t like reading it.”
Spanish Fort officials have proposed establishing a special tax district for the area that includes the attendance zones of Spanish Fort High School, the middle school and area elementary schools. A referendum would be held in September to allow voters in the district, both in the city and unincorporated areas, to decide if a three-mill property tax would be imposed for 10 years.
If approved, the money from the tax would be used for Spanish Fort schools in the district. School system officials have estimated that the tax would bring in about $900,000 to $1 million a year.
A three-mill tax would increase ad valorem rates on property with an appraised value of $100,000 by $30 a year.
Fairhope has also proposed a vote on a three-mill tax on schools in that area that would be in effect for 30 years. The Fairhope agreement was approved by the Board of Education in April.
