Voters decide Tuesday on five-mill tax for schools

SHEFFIELD - On Tuesday, Sheffield residents will decide whether to raise property tax millage to benefit the school district.

School officials are hoping that voters will choose to raise the millage from 19 mills to 24.

The school district wants to restore approximately $200,000 that was cut in city appropriations. If the tax is approved, the money it generates would be available beginning in October 2008. One mill in Sheffield collects $40,000 in assessed property value.

In the meantime, the school district will continue to operate with a deficit budget.

Superintendent Richard Gardner said the district is operating with nine fewer people this year than last year, five of them being certified personnel. The cuts were made through attrition, mostly with retirees' positions not being replaced.

Approval of the tax Tuesday is crucial for the district that has been forced to make some tough cuts already, Gardner said.

"While we can't predict what expenses will be for next year, we have studied the budget and think that if the tax passes, we should be able to at least keep employment at the level it is this year," he said.

As for potential cuts in the event the tax doesn't pass, Gardner said he isn't speculating on that just yet.

Sheffield Mayor Billy Don Anderson said the city council supports the 5-mill tax increase.

"I'll walk the streets in support of this tax if I have to," Anderson said. "I believe it's that important."

As with any school budget, personnel accounts for the greatest expense. Gardner said he won't have a true picture of the state of the school system until state appropriations come in for next year and "we know what our expenses are."

"At that point, we know we'll have to make some decisions," he said.

The school district has sent reminders of the upcoming referendum home with students and has sent recorded messages via telephone to homes of students and personnel in the system as part of the campaign to solicit favorable votes.

"I've gotten really positive feedback regarding the campaign and the election in general," Gardner said.

Gardner said he's hoping voters bring the same enthusiasm to the polls Tuesday that they did earlier this year when they overwhelmingly approved a renewal millage tax.

Sheffield City Clerk Clayton Kelly said that historically, "new taxes are much more difficult to get passed."

One of the most recent attempts to get a tax passed for education in Colbert County came on the heels of the declaration of statewide proration in 2001. Initially, the Colbert County Commission approved a half-cent sales tax for districts in the county. When the commission put the tax to a vote to make it permanent, the measure failed.

TimesDaily staff writer Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com.