From Autauga County Schools
Ad Valorem SchoolTax Referendum
Autauga County Schools is Planning for the Future with Ad Valorem SchoolTax Referendum; County Residents to Vote on November 5, 2024.
Autauga County residents will soon have the opportunity to vote on an ad valorem school tax referendum increase designed to add an additional $7 million annually to the district’s local funds. The proposed constitutional amendment, appearing on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot, resulted from many community partnerships that began with the Autauga County Board of Education unanimously voting to pass a seven-mill property tax increase resolution earlier this year. What became known as Act 2024-257 was passed by the state legislature just before the end of the 2024 regular season, giving all registered voters in Autauga County a chance to make their voices heard on the proposed additional funding.
“This is a crucial moment for our district,” expressed Lyman Woodfin, superintendent of Autauga County Schools. “We’re okay right now, the true question is going to be when the 2025-2026 school year hits. We play the three-shell game really well here. We are known for doing a lot with very little, but the reality is that there is coming a time when we will not be able to play the game quickly enough to keep up with the expenses under the system’s current model.”
Autauga County residents currently pay ten mills of ad valorem school taxes – the required state minimum – and the collected taxes are credited to the system’s local funding. The district is currently ranked 128 out of 138 school systems in the state when totaling all funding: federal, state, and local monies. The district’s $100+ million FY2024 budget is 87% earmarked, meaning that the majority of all funding is required to be spent in particular areas with very little opportunity to move funds where most needed. “Of the $103.5 million dollars, approximately $90 million is allocated for specific use, meaning when you pay state or federal taxes for the benefit of our school district, those funds are sent to us with stipulations on what they can and cannot be spent on,” stated Lesley Poe, chief school financial officer, during the 2024 budget overview video posted on the Business & Finance Department’s webpage. The $90 million of designated funding includes expenses such as employee salaries & benefits, classroom instructional support, student materials, technology, textbooks, libraries, transportation, career tech programs, and general administrative items. The remaining $13.5 million, or 13% of total revenues, is unallocated funding that allows for the purchase of anything not covered in the categories previously mentioned. Purchases that typically fall into this category include facilities upkeep, basic maintenance, new facilities, office & cleaning supplies, utilities, transportation & special education expenses not covered by state or federal funds, technology licenses, the district’s financial system, and personnel costs not fully funded otherwise.
The proposed seven-mill increase would allow for flexibility beyond the mandated threshold, providing a source of funding that can be used at the discretion of district leadership. For many school districts, the local dollars, those above the state-required mill collection, are how projects are funded, local teacher units are provided, and bond debt is paid. “The biggest challenge is that the district’s federal and state funding, as well as half of the local funds, are largely earmarked, which leaves only a portion of local funding to pay for anything else the system needs. There is simply not enough to go around with the expiration of COVID funding and the rising cost of goods and services,” stated Woodfin in his virtual State of the Schools presentation live streamed in the spring semester of the 2023-2024 school year.
A successful referendum, a majority passage of Act 2024-257, would generate additional funding for Autauga County Schools that allows district administrators to meet immediate needs designed to stabilize the system, such as:
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Hire additional teaching units and support staff,
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Purchase security enhancements,
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Create performance-based employee incentive program directly tied to schools’ state report card data
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Renovate aging and outdated facilities, and
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Reduce debt
“Systems that make it happen in terms of facility upgrades, additional teacher units, and things that make your system great often come out of your local funds,” stated Superintendent Woodfin. “When we pay all of our bills there’s just not a lot of local dollars left, so this increase in ad valorem would help us have a bigger pot of money to spread out in our district to make our teachers’ jobs better and give our students a better quality education.” At this time, Autauga County Schools will not use the increased funding to construct new facilities, but the district hopes to renovate some of the most outdated facilities with any additional funds. The increase in funding could allow for flexibility with future construction projects.
An unsuccessful referendum, a majority defeat of Act 2024-257, would require a significant reduction in the FY2026 budget, with impacts beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. At this time, the immediate cuts are those areas that are largely funded by local dollars – those programs that Autauga County Schools receive little to no funding from state or federal coffers. These budget reductions could include, but are not necessarily limited to:
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Closing of multiple county and city schools,
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Reduction of the already limited support of school athletics, fine arts, and extracurricular options,
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Closing of the district’s Second Chance Alternative Program using the base schools’ current disciplinary model to create behavior change,
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Indefinite suspension of the district’s free breakfast and lunch program for students,
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Major decrease in funding for the system’s career tech education program,
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Major decrease in funding for the system’s pre-K program, and
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Possible employee layoffs
According to the Autauga County Revenue Department, this proposed $7 million annual increase in ad valorem school taxes would raise property taxes an estimated $70 per $100,000 of value for an average increase of $5 to $29 per month. Residents are encouraged to know their home value according to the Revenue Department by visiting the county’s Capture Cama website, locating the property record, and using the “appraisal value” listed on the website to determine an estimate of the projected increase for residential homes claiming a homestead exemption using the chart below. Alabama Department of Revenue exemptions include age, disabled status, and current use policy for large landowners that property owners can apply to receive.
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Estimated Home Value
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Annual Proposed Tax Increase
for owner-occupied residential property
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|---|---|
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$500,000
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$350
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$400,000
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$280
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$300,000
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$210
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$200,000
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$140
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$100,000
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$70
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$50,000
|
$35
|
“At the end of the day, we will enact the will of our people,” commented Woodfin. “We are doing our best to remove all emotion from this decision by providing voters with the facts of both sides. We want every voter to be informed and to vote in the manner that is in keeping with their values. If the community decides to give us more money, we will use it to do the things we said we would do, but if they decide to vote against funding, we will also do the things we said we would do. I feel that the plan is very clearly laid out, and we’ll work to ensure that every voter has access to this information to make an informed choice. “Our model will change either way this vote goes but the question is how does it look on November 6.”
For additional information about this referendum, including upcoming community meeting dates, frequently asked questions, and more visit acboe.net/advalorem.
The Autauga County Board of Education has prepared this material for educational purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as advocating a specific position on the referendum.
