Loxley, Silverhill & Roberstdale school tax vote is Sept. 21; Additional funds are for Robertsdale High’s feeder schools

Loxley, Silverhill & Roberstdale school tax vote is Sept. 21; Additional funds are for Robertsdale High’s feeder schools

By Fran Thompson
Voters in Loxley, Silverhill and Robertsdale will go to the polls to decide if they want to support their cities’ elementary and middle schools by paying additional property taxes. On Sept. 21, citizens will decide if they want to add an additional 3-mills to their ad valorem tax bill, which translates to an additional $30 per household for a home assessed at $100,000. The ad valorem tax would expire in 8 years.
The additional funds, estimated at $750,000 per year, will be earmarked specifically for facility improvements and educational enrichment programs at the schools that feed into Robertsdale High School.
The effort to raise additional funds for local schools in the Baldwin County School District is being spearheaded by Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy and Loxley Mayor Richard Teal. But the town council in Silverhill also passed resolutions for the referendum.
Murphy said a nine-member committee representing the three municipalities in the feeder pattern will oversee dispersement of funds, as approved by the BCSD School Board.
Voters in Fairhope and Spanish Fort already voted in favor of a similar tax increase to support their feeder elementary and middle schools in 2019, generating about $2.5 million per year for Fairhope and $900,000 for Spanish Fort schools.
School tax vote public hearings are scheduled Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. in Robertsdale and Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Loxley.
Baldwin is the fastest growing county in the state, as evidenced by its 25 percent increase in public school enrollment over the past 10 years. Student enrollment is expected to increase by another 15% over the next 9 years, according to BCSD Superintendent Eddie Tyler.