Voter Guide: Birmingham Voters to Decide School Taxes, Three Council Seats Tuesday
By BirminghamWatch & Sam Prickett
Voters in Birmingham will head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of three property taxes for schools and three seats on the City Council.
Those taxes cost taxpayers who own houses valued at $100,000 about $98 per year and raise roughly $27 million a year for city schools.
Voters in City Council Districts 1, 6 and 7 also will have a choice of city councilors to represent them on their ballots. That’s almost half of the council seats up for grabs. Councilors representing those districts were appointed after the elected councilors resigned their positions. Under the Mayor-Council Act, appointed councilors may serve only until the next election.
BirminghamWatch’s city voter guide provides profiles of the candidates, an explanation of the school taxes, information about casting a ballot, and links to official ballots and a map of council districts.
Citywide Vote on Renewing Taxes for Birmingham Schools
All voters in Birmingham will get their vote on whether to renew three property taxes they already are paying that benefit Birmingham City Schools.
Those taxes generate roughly $27 million in yearly revenue for the school system, accounting for roughly 12% of its total budget, based on its $234 million FY 2019 budget. That revenue goes into the BCS general fund, 76% of which is spent on personnel salaries and benefits; the remaining 24% goes toward operational costs, capital outlay and transfers to other funds.
The taxes were last renewed by voters in August 1991 and are slated to expire Sept. 30, 2021. This month’s vote would renew the taxes through 2046.
One of the taxes is for 4.2 mills and the other two are for 2.8 mills each. The total 9.8 mills costs homeowners $98 a year for each $100,000 in appraised value of their houses.
Candidates for Birmingham City Council on the Oct. 8 Ballot
City Council District 1:
City Council District 6:
City Council District 7:
Birmingham District Maps #1-9
Poll Hours, Polling Sites and Absentee Ballots
The polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 8. You can verify your polling place on the AlabamaVotes.gov site.
For those who want to cast absentee ballots, Thursday is the deadline to apply for the ballots. Monday is the last day for voters to apply for emergency absentee ballots, if their employers require them to be out of the country on election day.
Absentees must be hand-delivered to the City Clerk’s office by the end of the day Monday or postmarked by Oct. 8 and received by the clerk by noon on election day.
Sample Ballots
Workers at Alabama’s Mercedes plants vote against joining a union
The workers voted 56% against the union, according to tallies released by the National Labor Relations Board, which ran the election.
Taylor Hunnicutt is championing her home state with debut album ‘Alabama Sound’
Alabama offers a diverse symphony of swampy rock, swaggering blues, murky country, and bone-rattling soul. It’s a sound singer-songwriter Taylor Hunnicutt recently reimagined on her debut album, Alabama Sound, which is out now.
UAB building among Alabama’s first to feature ‘bird safe’ glass
Advocates hope the new glass will prevent window collisions, a leading causes of bird mortality.
Researchers look into community health impact of wood pellet production in rural Mississippi
Brown University and Tougaloo College students are testing for potential air and noise pollution near the Drax wood pellet plant in Gloster, Mississippi.
Alabama coal company sued for a home explosion is delinquent on dozens of penalties
Crimson Oak Grove Resources has been cited for 204 safety violations since the March 8 blast, many involving “significant and substantial” safety violations.
The United Auto Workers faces a key test in the South with upcoming vote at Alabama Mercedes plant
The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote this week on whether to join the UAW.
