This year, there’s just one statewide constitutional amendment on the ballot for Alabama voters. But it affects only two counties. Rep. Jamie Kiel (R-Russellville) sponsored the legislation.
The amendment involves the Franklin County School System, which owns land in Walker county.
“The land that Franklin County owns is at the Intersection of I-22 and State Route 13, which is a highly traveled highway. It’s called the sixteenth section land, and the land is devoted for educational purposes,” Kiel said.
The land is currently being managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation. Franklin County Schools would like to develop that property for commercial use. If passed by Alabama voters, Amendment One will allow the school system to sell or lease the land.
“It could be a truck stop. It could be hotels or restaurants. And it would make a huge financial impact on both the Franklin County School System and Walker County.”
Kiel said selling the land to businesses would bring in funds to the county through the collection of sales and property taxes. But more importantly, the money would help the local school systems. He said that’s why it’s a statewide issue.
“My hope is that people across the state would look at this as ‘what if this were my children,’ or ‘what if this were my city’ and that they would vote for it” Kiel said.
Read analysis of Amendment One from the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama.