Butler County Residents To Vote On Ad Valorem Tax Bill Tuesday
Butler County Residents will head to the polls Tuesday to vote on the Ad Valorem Tax bill that would help fund the Butler County School system. If passed, the tax increase is estimated to cost the average homeowner in Butler County around 3 dollars and 75 cents extra, per month.
“Our county had some of the lowest revenue per student in the state of Alabama, ” Butler County Schools Superintendent Dr. John Strycker says. “Alabama is one of the lowest states as far as revenue from property tax.”
The increase would raise the property taxes to 18 mill, close to the state average. That is a six mill increase from where it currently stands.
Strycker says, if passed, money raised from the property tax increase could be used to help decrease the Butler County School system’s debt.
It would also be used to help provide the students additional learning resources and extracurricular activities.
“Books, textbook resources, technology,” Strycker says. “There’s just a lot of curriculum needs that we have.” He also says the money could be used to add music, robotics teams, and other clubs.
Residents have mixed emotions about the proposed property tax increase. Some say they plan to vote in favor of the bill.
“Our children are our future,” Greenville pastor and resident Brian Robinson says. “So if they are our future, then we should be willing to make a sacrifice for them. I believe that going to the polls tomorrow, I’m gonna go to the polls tomorrow, and I am going to accept this.”
Other residents say they will be voting against the bill.
“The school systems not gonna be repaired,” Butler County resident Rex Reaves says. “It’s definitely not gonna be repaired by throwing more money. When you throw good money after bad, it’s not fixing anything. You know, you’ve got to fix the foundation before you go fixing the rest of a house or its all gonna fall in.”
Should the vote fail, Strycker says the school board will look for another way.
“We’re open to other funding options, but if there are other funding resources that we’re not aware of, why haven’t they been implemented already?”
Butler County School system ranks 132 out of 137 school districts in Alabama in terms of local funding support.
