Council seeks state approval to lift lid bill restrictions
The Homewood City Council has taken a crucial first step toward getting restrictions removed on city property taxes.
Council members met with the Jefferson County delegation in the state House on Wednesday, Jan. 31 to discuss a requested exemption from the state lid bill. The lid bill caps property tax collection at 75 mills, which is the amount Homewood currently collects. Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook have exemptions from the bill because their property tax rates already exceeded 75 mills when the bill was passed.
Property taxes support the Homewood City Schools system. Superintendent Bill Cleveland and council members unanimously supported a lid bill exemption in 2017.
“By law we cannot raise it any more than that if the need for more school funding were to appear,” Council President Bruce Limbaugh said.
If the exemption is granted, the city council cannot choose on its own to raise property tax rates. Any increase requires a city-wide vote.
“This is not giving the city council the authority or the right to raise property taxes. We can’t do that, nor should we do that. That’s a vote of the people,” Limbaugh said.
He also noted that the city does not have current plans to increase property taxes, but the council decided to pursue the exemption now because of the lengthy timeline needed before approval.
“This is not a vote to raise taxes in Homewood. This is a vote to put Homewood on the same level and state of laws as Vestavia and Mountain Brook,” he said.
The Jefferson County delegation voted 8-0, with three abstentions, on Wednesday to support an exemption for Homewood. Limbaugh said Homewood's representatives have also expressed their support.
The next step is a constitutional amendment on the November 2018 ballot, for Jefferson County citizens to vote on the lid bill exemption. If approved at the ballot, Limbaugh said the measure would then go to the state legislature in 2019 for approval.
“We know each step’s a challenge,” Limbaugh said.