ALABASTER, Alabama --Alabaster is the right size, its demographic profile is good, and the opportunity for commercial growth is optimal.
In terms of revenue, all the city needs to create a separate school system is a 1-cent sales tax increase, according to education consultant Ira Harvey of Decision Resources.
That's his conclusion in the 200-plus page report on the feasibility of the city breaking away from the Shelby County school system and forming its own within its boundaries.
Of course, many issues would have to be resolved before the city could go it alone, but having a solid revenue base is the greatest necessity.
"Since the rate of sales/use taxes that is considered the reasonable maximum statewide is 9 percent, and since the citizens of Alabaster only currently pay 8 percent, an increase may well be a rational source for additional revenues," Harvey writes in the report he presented to the City Council recently during the first of three public forums on the topic.
The city would receive all ad valorem taxes set aside for schools that are paid by residents who live within the Alabaster city limits; it also would assume any debt associated with the property.
"Should you separate, your municipal boundaries are the boundaries of the city school system," Harvey said. "Should you separate, you would become a school tax district, and ad valorem taxes collected in the new tax district would go to the school system.
"You're automatically going to get the millage rate prior to the separation," he said. That rate is 30 mills, which Harvey called "a very high tax rate."
Based on the average daily attendance ("average daily membership" in school lingo) for last school year, the Alabaster school system would have received $10,514 per student. The actual county per-student revenue was $9,811, according to Harvey. The city's per-student share would have been larger because it would not have to receive disbursements from the county general fund.
The next public forum is scheduled for Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. in the City Hall annex. Harvey and members of the City Council have been fielding questions and hearing concerns from residents at the meetings.
City officials say they don't have specific answers to many of the questions because a vote on forming a separate system has not occurred. Should the council decide to form its own system, then negotiations on some topics would be necessary.
Shared services are at the top of the list of issues. For example, about 18 special-needs students who attend the Linda Nolen Learning Center live in Alabaster. That center is a county school and is situated in Pelham. Alabaster would have to work with the county to come up with an arrangement so those students could continue to attend classes at the center.
The alternative school is in the city limits of Alabaster, as is the teacher instructional services center. Both serve the entire county. The county's school of technology is in Calera; it is attended by students throughout the county, including Alabaster.
Another potential problem is linked to students who attend schools in Alabaster but who live outside the city limits. About 500 students fall into that category. Should those children be allowed to continue to attend the city schools, the county would lose that funding since, according to Harvey, "state money follows the kid; county money follows the kid; federal money follows the kid."
In addition to the centralized services, Alabaster is home to six schools: Creek View and Meadow View Elementary; Thompson Intermediate; Thompson Sixth-Grade Center; Thompson Middle; and Thompson High.
To read the entire feasibility report, click on the link below.
http://www.cityofalabaster.com/education-feasibility-study/sp/483
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