Northport Eyes June For City School System Facilities Study, Update On Potential Costs

NORTHPORT, AL — Northport city leaders could have more information in hand by the end of June concerning the feasibility of a proposed city school system, City Administrator Glenda Webb speculated during a City Council committee meeting on Monday.

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The latest update comes after the Northport City Council contracted in February with Criterion Criterion Consulting, LLC — a Chelsea firm that has also done work with other municipalities in Alabama looking to break away from their respective county school systems.

After Northport allocated more than $100,000 to fund due diligence efforts, Criterion's current task is conducting not just an analysis of the different Tuscaloosa County School System properties within the City of Northport, but also future growth and longterm plans for financing such a costly endeavor.

"I've been Impressed with the team members they brought to the table and their scope of their knowledge," Webb said, "because some of them served on the state level and they have done some very hard forensic auditing of school systems and helped certain systems recover and come out of crises."

Before conducting the study of TCSS facilities, Webb said Criterion has expressed plans to reach and meet with TCSS Superintendent Keri Johnson.

COLUMN: The Separatists & The School System

"We have a plan of action on how to move forward after that," the city administrator added, prior to mentioning that the consulting firm would have data ready to present to the City Council by the end of June.

The longest-standing talking point in the debate over the school system has been how it will be funded — a topic that returned once again on Monday.

Webb explained that the City Council has indicated a consensus of not pledging sales tax money to the proposed city school system, which leaves the only other option as an increase on property taxes for homeowners within the city limits.

As Patch previously reported the initial feasibility study concluded that Northport has the means to start and sustain its own school district, which would have an estimated annual operating budget of $54 million. This number is strictly hypothetical and has been met with a range of skepticism from those opposed to the decision.

"[Criterion is] helping us determine what the costs of operating a system would be and if we go toward significant rehab or rebuilding of the facilities," she said. "I don’t think it's fair to go to the citizens of Northport to ask for multiple tax increases, so we want to get it right the first time."

Assuming debt on the different properties, in addition to bond issuances for building new facilities was also briefly discussed.

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

"If we’re looking at bonding for new builds, taking over existing agreements and along with the transportation system, the cost of a central office, bus shop, maintenance site ... they are looking at all of that," Webb said.

Talk then turned to what would be lost in the process if the City Council indeed moves forward on a split from the Tuscaloosa County School System. This would include the city not being able to lay claim to TCSS personnel, in addition to the schools likely losing out on the sales tax revenue currently collected by TCSS following the creation of the Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission.

The way House Bill 600 was written when it was signed into law explicitly mentions TCSS and Tuscaloosa City Schools for their allocations of the sales tax revenue, but no mention is given to proposed future school systems like the one being discussed in Northport.

"We’ve talked about if that is a realistic source of any income and what does that do to the entire picture of what the needs are," Webb said. "They are running multiple different avenues, but I think the big focus would be on what the necessary millage increase would be ... if it were to go back to an amendment to House Bill 600, then you bring the invitation for everybody to start jockeying for new types of percentages of that distribution. I don’t know if that’s something we would even want to considering opening."

Indeed, while Tuscaloosa County has the statutory minimum for its millage rate, Northport residents have already seen a new sale tax increase implemented with the recent creation of the Northport First Fund, making a rise in property taxes the likely alternative to fund a city school system.

"I believe the land values in Northport are probably greater than in the county elsewhere, because we have a population density and the values of the properties are higher," Webb said. "We’re actually providing for and propping up some of the schools in the more rural locations with the tax base. So, [Criterion is] going to analyze the tax values of Northport residents and anything located with the City of Northport, to determine what can happen."

Annexation is another likely hurdle if and when a Northport city school system comes to fruition, with numerous clusters of residents in the county being within walking distance of schools that would be in city limits.

"What I asked Criterion to focus on were areas in the corporate limits," Webb said. "You will see a desire to annex and clean up the pockets. It’s the most conservative way to look at budgeting, with only the ones in the city we can count on right now."

When debate wrapped up, though, Webb was quick to point out that city leaders are nowhere near the negotiating stage of the deal, as the City Council and others in City Hall mull over the complex details.

“The only decision that has been made it to tell us exactly what it would take to begin a school system and operate longterm," she said. "I think there is a misperception in the community that you all have already made the decision we’re going forward and I want to say that’s not the case. Y’all are taking it very methodically and taking this the best you can."

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