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A special referendum Tuesday, March 19 will return voters to the polls to decide, for the first time in three decades, on the fate of an existing property tax apportionment for local school funding.

Originally established in the 1980s, the 30-year duration of the current apportionment is set to expire this year. The referendum asks voters to renew, or reject, the existing across-the-board property tax collected for both Cullman city and county schools, for another 30-year period.

The referendum does not introduce any new taxes or restructure how they’re apportioned in any way; rather, it simply seeks to renew what’s been in place for the past 30 years. Sample ballots, which feature only the referendum question and no other item, are available at the Cullman County probate judge’s office.

The existing ad valorem tax structure that apportions local property tax funds to both city and county schools dates back to 1989, when the original referendum was approved by local voters. Thanks to a more recent state law that redundantly requires a base-rate apportionment of local tax funds for counties that do not set their own, education funding for Cullman County Schools via property taxes will change little, at least in the long term, should the referendum fail.

City schools, which receive school-related property taxes collected at a higher millage rate, would see reduced revenues if the referendum fails. Cullman City Schools Superintendent Susan Patterson could not be reached by phone for comment on the referendum Wednesday.

The current set of laws governing local property taxes for schools is set to expire in October with the end of the 2019 fiscal year, giving local government a six-month window, starting this month, to assure that the existing structure will continue — and time for local governments to ratify the state-level version of the law, should the referendum fail.

A survey of last year’s property tax records reveals that more than $5.6 million was collected for local education funding, county-wide, in 2018. Roughly 21 percent of all property taxes collected by the Cullman County Revenue Office last year were set aside for education.

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 145.