House District 11 candidate Heath Allbright has promised to "slash taxes" and keep the government out of voters' pockets if elected, but his time serving on the Cullman County School Board tells a different story.
In 2019, Allbright supported a controversial half-cent and 1-cent tax increase while serving as the board's chairman.
Despite this, Allbright's campaign recently sent a mailer touting his anti-tax stance, claiming he "never raised taxes" as a school board member.
"Christian conservative Heath Allbright term-limited himself after serving two terms on the Cullman County Board of Education where he helped increase the graduation rate from 80% to 97% and never raised taxes!" the mailer reads.
According to The Cullman Tribune, in October 2019, Allbright and the rest of the school board voted to approve a resolution that would enact a 1-cent tax hike if voters had approved it during the March 2020 primary election.
This came after the Cullman County Commission rescinded a half-cent sales tax in April 2019, which was approved a month prior at the school board's request. While some supported the tax to raise money for schools, many Cullman residents were not happy with the lack of transparency in passing the tax without public input, and that some of the funds would go toward Superintendent Shane Barnette's plan to construct a large multisport facility, known then as Project X.
The Tribune also reported that Allbright said he was grateful the County Commission approved the half-cent tax increase, but he was not in favor of using it for Project X or any other non-educational expense.
Barnette gave a list of items the 1-cent tax would have been used for had it passed, but it's unclear if any funds would have gone toward Project X or similar plans.
Allbright did not respond to 1819 News' request for comment on his support of these tax increases.
He will go up against Don Fallin in the Republican primary for HD11 on Tuesday.
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