In what’s expected to be a low-turnout date at the ballot box, polls will open countywide Tuesday to decide whether to renew a property tax that’s partially funded local schools since the late 1980s.

Up for renewal will be three Cullman County-only ad valorem tax items, each of which has been in place since 1989. Together, the three measures seek renewal for a total of 7 mills ($7 per each $1,000 in property value) in property taxes to fund both Cullman city and county schools.

No new taxes are up for a vote in Tuesday’s referendum. Rather, the referendum asks voters to decide whether to renew school-related property taxes that have been in place for the past three decades.

The first two measures, a 1-mill ($1 per $1,000) and a 3-mill ($3 per $1,000) property tax, will appear on each ballot regardless of where a voter resides in Cullman County. The third, a 3-mill “district” property tax, will appear with varied phrasing depending on whether a voter resides in unincorporated Cullman County, the City of Cullman, or Arab. Residents of all three areas, however, will have the opportunity to vote on each of the three measures.

The 1-mill tax measure will only pass if three-fifths of voters approve its renewal. The 3-mill measures need only a simple majority in order to be renewed.

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.

Polls open throughout Cullman County Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Because of recent tornado damage at the White City Community Center, residents who normally vote at the community center will instead cast their ballots Tuesday at the Johnson’s Crossing Volunteer Fire Department.