Could Failed Chelsea Property Tax Vote Signal Future For A Northport School System?

NORTHPORT, AL — Voters in the Shelby County city of Chelsea sent a resounding "no" at the ballot box earlier this month, voting down a property tax increase to fund a proposed city school district separate from its county school system.

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Indeed, approximately 87% of the 3,685 voters who cast ballots on July 12 voted against adding 12.5 mills to property taxes for homeowners inside the city limits, effectively killing any immediate hopes of a Chelsea city school system.

The news comes as the City of Northport, which continues to grow at a rapid pace, is considering a similar split from the Tuscaloosa County School System. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that many of the conversations in the two cities have been the same, ranging from the staggering costs of starting a public school system, the debt the city would assume when doing so, and even how school resources would be parceled out following a split.

Fair parallels can also be drawn when examining the situations in the two diametrically different cities. This especially when considering the firm commissioned by Northport to conduct its feasibility study — Criterion K-12 Consulting Group, LLC. — is based out of Chelsea and shepherded the ultimately-failed efforts by leaders in that city to find a means of financing their break away from the county school system.

ALSO READ: What's At Stake As Northport Looks To Split From TCSS

But as the City of Chelsea will continue to be part of its county school system, the push in Northport is still in its earliest stages, with no formal measures introduced for upcoming ballots as of the publication of this article.

With this in mind, Patch set out to compare the two situations in order to better understand what, if anything, voters in Northport could expect in their city after seeing the overwhelming opposition to higher property taxes in Chelsea

'Apples & Mangos'

The best place to start with comparisons can be seen in the mayors of the two cities.

Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer, for example, has been an outspoken supporter of the proposed split — much like Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon, who has campaigned on the issue of a separate city school system for years.

"As the mayor of Chelsea, I will move forward with the decision that has been made by our citizens to continue in the Shelby County school system and to partner with the Shelby County Board of Education to make our Chelsea area schools the absolute best they can be by utilizing the 1-cent sales tax that we currently collect for our schools," Picklesimer said in a written statement following the vote.

Conversely, Herndon has brought up the topic at multiple turns and with increasing frequency over the last year, even underscoring the need for a Northport city school system as a central part of his last State of the City Address in February.

"This is something very, very dear to my heart," he said, echoing his longstanding support."Everybody that knows me knows I'm a proponent for Northport having its own school system. We'll never be the city we can be if we don't."

What's more — similar to Chelsea — Northport has used its recently implemented 1-cent sales tax to provide needed chunks of funding to schools within the city limits. For instance, the Northport Council in 2021 awarded revenue generated by the tax to the tune of $350,000 to the schools in its footprint.

But when considering the similarities shared by the two municipalities, they pretty much stop with city hall support for a split and using local sales tax measures to give money to the schools within their city limits.

"The Chelsea situation and our situation aren't apples to apples, it's like apples and mangos," explained District 4 Councilwoman Jamie Dykes in an interview with Patch.

Dykes, along with District 2 Councilman Woodrow Washington III, has been one of the most visible supporters of a Northport split from TCSS and chairs the Community Outreach Committee tasked with moving the concept along through its early stages.

"There's really no comparisons," she added. "Plus, Chelsea's mills were already at 30 or 31. So they are already head and shoulders above us when it comes to ad valorem."

Indeed, Northport homeowners pay a state-mandated minimum of 10 mills and officials like Council President Jeff Hogg have argued that Northport is in an advantageous position for determining its own destiny, previously referring to the city as the "cash cow" for the Tuscaloosa County School System.

The most obvious differences in the two cities, however, can be seen first in their populations —Chelsea at approximately 15,600 and Northport at nearly 33,000. With this in mind, the City of Chelsea boasts a low crime rate and does not have its own police department, which is often one of the most burdensome expenses for budgets in smaller cities.

Here's a quick comparative look at 2020 Census data to show how the two cities stack up

While some in the Northport community have followed the developments in Chelsea to serve as a kind of bellwether for how voters in Northport could move when given the decision of raising property taxes, city leaders active in the push for secession have paid it little mind as it relates to the situation at hand.

And it's an approach that makes sense when considering the vast differences separating the two municipalities, even omitting the nuanced political dynamics that accompany multimillion-dollar public school systems.

"This isn't anything personal with the school system," Dykes was quick to point out, before saying the Council expects to have the results of its latest feasibility study sometime in August. "I think there have been enough young people to express an interest in this. Northport has taken care of its basic needs and now we're in a position to take care of our own children."

Washington is the only African-American member of the city council and has been vocal about TCSS addressing the conditions of schools in the predominantly-Black district.

And for good reason.

As Patch has previously reported, the schools in District 2 are among the oldest in the county and have spurred repeated calls for brand-new facilities. TCSS has insisted it is doing all it can to maintain the schools, but parents and officials alike have lamented the noticeable age shown by the facilities.

The older schools in Northport are also sure to represent a stark contrast when compared to the schools in a community half its size, like Chelsea, where the median household income is nearly $30,000 higher.

At the same time, many in District 2 expressed their frustrations with the construction of the new $24 million Northport Intermediate School, which is within walking distance from Tuscaloosa County High School and would make up a large chunk of the debt the city would have to take on if it gained control of the new state-of-the-art school.

If Northport leaders are successful in their push to break away from TCSS, it's worth noting that the overwhelming sentiment in City Hall is that the effort will not be financially possible without an ad valorem tax increase to fund it.

But when asked if he thought voters in Northport would react similarly to those in Chelsea, Washington expressed cautious optimism, before saying such a measure would come down to simple voter turnout.

However, Washington likes the chances of a property tax increase passing in Northport to fund the proposed city school system, citing the feedback from many who desire more direct input into how the schools in their community are run.

"We have schools in poor condition and being overlooked, " he told Patch in an interview. "But right now we see our problems can do stuff to fix it. I want to do my part to bring it to a vote and try to promote it and push it and make people aware. "

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