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Election Information

Hot Topics

  • What will we look like in 20 years if we do nothing different? What are our opportunities to do new things in new ways for added economic impact?
  • Spearheading 20-year regional visioning effort – LAUNCH 2035 – with business leaders in Limestone, Madison, Morgan counties
  • Hired Civic Analytics of Austin and EntreWorks of Arlington as consultants
  • Raised $107,500 from private sector for Phases 1 and 2.
  • Recruited 25-member Leadership Team
  • Three task forces formed: 1) Entrepreneurship, 2) Land Use Planning, 3) Workforce Development
  • Hired Red Sage Communications of Decatur to produce logo, website
  • We believe the steps taken to earn Unitary Status will provide enhanced opportunities for academic excellence to all students in Huntsville City Schools.
  • We believe the HCS/DOJ Consent Order offers a clear roadmap to earning Unitary Status which will benefit our local education system.
  • We salute Huntsville City Schools leadership for its hard work in achieving this agreement and their continued efforts to earn Unitary Status.
  • Only 2 states allow elected superintendents — Alabama and Florida.
  • Of 15,000 superintendents in U.S., less than 100 are elected
  • Elected superintendents can’t be removed for failure in performance until next election
  • Elected comes from limited pool w/low qualifications
  • High-quality education begins with high-quality leadership – Superintendent & Board
  • An appointed Superintendent is selected from the most qualified in the U.S. and is held accountable by an elected school board and public
  • The Board of Education sets the vision and they and the Superintendent work as a team
  • Next Madison County Superintendent election in 2018
  • Several ad valorem taxes, providing over $58 million in annual funding of the Huntsville, Madison, and Madison County Schools, were scheduled to expire in December of 2017.
  • The general election ballot on December 12, 2017  included a referendum on the renewal of six different City and County property taxes, which are dedicated to supporting local schools – 16 mills for Huntsville, 9.5 mills for the city of Madison, and 9.5 mills for Madison County.
  • Property taxes are levied against the ‘assessed value’ of property – homeowner’s rate is 10% of value; business’ rate is 20% of value.
  • Alabama has the lowest property taxes in the U.S.  Average Alabama property taxes are $523/year and the U.S. average is$1,400/year.
  • None of the taxes on the ballot were new taxes.
  • The referendum passed with over 70% vote for all three systems.
  • Grants certain powers held by legislature to county commissions – 1) Economic development; 2) Services including planning, zoning, sewer, fire protection, etc; 3) Taxation
  • Madison County has only economic development authority
  • Baldwin & Shelby Counties have full home rule
  • Madison County becoming more urban
  • Master planning for growth not allowed
  • Property values not protected due to lack of zoning
  • Metro land use planning with cities not possible
  • High-density neighborhoods need sewer option
  • High-density neighborhoods need full-time fire department – would offer insurance reductions
  • May include taxing power by vote or referendum
  • We support a pro-business climate as critical to our continued economic growth and are opposed to the formation of unions.
  • We discourage elected leaders from agreeing to the demands of public employee unions.
  • We support a state constitutional amendment on right to work. This would make us one of 10 states in the country to make right to work this high-level priority and make it more difficult to overturn in the future. It will give us a leg-up in economic development and we urge you to vote YES on this in November.

Huntsville:

Madison: 

Madison County: