Hoover school board seeks three property tax renewals for schools
The Hoover school board tonight voted to ask the Jefferson County Commission to put three school property tax renewals on the Nov. 8 general election ballots.
Two Jefferson County countywide property taxes totaling 7.5 mills brought in about $7.1 million for Hoover City Schools in fiscal 2015 and are set to expire in 2021, school officials said.
A separate 13.9-mill property tax just for the Hoover school system brought in about $13.6 million for Hoover schools in 2015 and also is set to expire in 2021.
Hoover school officials are seeking to get all three of those taxes extended for 25 more years to 2046.
Superintendent Kathy Murphy emphasized that they are tax renewals, not new taxes, and school board member Craig Kelley said it is extremely important to get the tax renewals passed to maintain current funding for Hoover City Schools.
The first two tax renewals require a countywide vote for approval, but the 13.9-mill property tax would only be voted on by registered voters in the Hoover portion of Jefferson County, tax attorney Heyward Hosch said tonight.
It’s important to go ahead and get them approved far in advance in order to maintain school system’s credit ratings and allow school systems to obtain financing for needed capital projects, Hosch said. Plus, if a first tax renewal vote fails, there still could be time to seek a second vote later, he said.
Governments also typically try to schedule tax renewal votes at a time when people already are going to the polls in order to save money on the cost of the election.
Hoover schools also receive about $665,000 a year from a .7-mill Jefferson County countywide property tax, but that tax began in 1891 and does not expire.
Hoover residents in Shelby County in 2004 renewed two property taxes totaling 6 mills that bring in about $3.3 million for Hoover schools, and those taxes do not expire until 2029. Shelby County voters in 2011 renewed four property taxes totaling 16 mills that bring in about $4.9 million for Hoover schools, and those taxes will not expire until 2041, school officials said.
Hoover residents in both counties in 2010 renewed a 24-mill property tax just for Hoover City Schools that brings in about $37.2 million for the system, and that tax does not expire until 2046.
In total, the Hoover school system estimates it will receive $68.2 million this fiscal year in property tax revenues, which represents 43 percent of the total $157 million in revenues projected in the 2016 budget.