County backs school tax renewal

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Voters will have their say on the renewal of a 7.3 mill property tax Jan. 16, 2007.
A resolution calling for a special referendum to give voters the opportunity to renew the tax for Morgan County Schools was approved by the Morgan County Commission at a regular meeting on Tuesday.
The move was in response to a request made by the Morgan County School Board at a regular meeting on Sept. 21.
It was discovered earlier this month that the 30-year school tax was scheduled to expire at the end of this month. The school board was caught by surprise and began immediately to take steps to bring it back up for a vote. When it was determined that there was not enough time to get the question on the November General Election ballot, a move was made to hold the election as soon as possible in 2007.
The tax generates about $4.5 million a year. It originated in 1957 as a 5.5 mill school district tax and was increased to 7.3 mills by special constitutional authority granted to the Morgan County Commission in 1979.
Commissioner Kevin Murphy said he was concerned about the loss of funding for the school system.
Lyons said he would like to see the ballot worded so the tax is put in place permanently.