Hoover School System Gets $9.1 Million From Jefferson County Commission, But Is It Enough?

The Jefferson County Commission made good on a promise to distribute $69 million of unspent money from a county education sales and use tax to the 12 school districts in the county. Hoover schools received $9.1 million of that distribution. This money is in addition to about $2 million that Hoover schools will receive each year going forward, now that the Jefferson County legislative delegation allowed for the extension of the sales tax and restructured how the money will be divided.

While the payment was much-needed, Hoover school board vice president Craig Kelley told the Hoover Sun he is not happy about how the county legislative delegation restructured the proceeds from the sales tax. He said the county took money originally allocated for schools and redirected some of it to the county’s general fund, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, Birmingham Zoo and discretionary spending accounts controlled by legislators.

If proceeds from the sales tax had remained allocated for schools, Hoover City Schools likely would have received about $13.5 million a year going forward, Kelley said. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Birmingham Patch morning newsletter.)

The total amounts for each system were:

• Jefferson County — $24.1 million
• Birmingham — $16 million
• Hoover — $9.1 million
• Vestavia Hills — $4.7 million
• Trussville — $3 million
• Mountain Brook — $2.9 million
• Homewood — $2.8 million
• Bessemer — $2.5 million
• Leeds — $1.3 million
• Fairfield — $1.2 million
• Tarrant — $775,000
• Midfield — $739,000

Image from Hoover City Schools