Tuscaloosa City Schools using taxpayer resources to promote property tax hike

Tuscaloosa City Schools are using taxpayer resources to promote the benefits of voting "yes" on an upcoming property tax referendum.

Tuscaloosa voters will decide on Tuesday whether to raise their ad valorem tax rates by 11.5 mills, or $345 annually for a property with an appraised value of $300,000.

“If voters approve the proposed 11.5-mill increase to the ad valorem tax rate on September 24, it would mean guaranteed pre-K for all, the expansion of art and music to year-round in elementary schools, plus driver's ed in high schools, investment in school safety, and more. If the referendum fails, it means TCS will have to make difficult budget cuts that will impact every school,” a school official wrote in a newsletter in August.

This commercial was also attached in the newsletter:

Tuscaloosa City Schools superintendent Mike Daria wrote in an email to the Tuscaloosa City Schools “family” on September 6, “There are some who still question how the additional funds that will accrue from the September 24th referendum will be spent.”

“One use of these funds will be to provide increased funding for classroom teachers and for staff, including a 2% proposed pay raise in October 2025,” Daria said. “According to Alabama Department of Education data, salaries for Tuscaloosa City School teachers rank 103 out 138 systems in the state. (Click here to see the data) Almost a quarter of the funding produced by the increase in education millage will go to classroom teachers’ pay.”

The Tuscaloosa City Schools website states, “If the referendum does not pass, the school system will face financial challenges as COVID-related federal funding ends. If the referendum does not pass, cuts will have to be made, impacting every teacher and every student.”

A law passed in 2022 bans public officials or employees from using public funds to advocate for or against ballot measures. The law doesn’t prohibit “factual information” or information about services being cut if a new tax isn’t passed. Texts sent out by the school about the upcoming referendum say they’re for “educational purposes only.