“Today was indeed a big day in Baldwin County,” Commission Chairman Chris Elliott said, as Baldwin County commission members voted unanimously today to approve a measure that would continue the existing penny sales tax for the Baldwin County Board of Education.

The proposal, which would continue a one cent sales and use tax instituted by the county several years ago, would allow the schools to keep that continuous revenue source – one that amounted to nearly $37 million during the last fiscal year.

School officials said they were grateful for the commission’s action on the matter, as the penny tax had been a major concern for the schools.

“A continued partnership with the commission and the board of education is vital to the success of not only the school system and our children, but the county as well,” BCBE President Shannon Cauley said. “We appreciate everything you’ve done very much.”

Superintendent Eddie Tyler said he was incredibly appreciative of what the commission voted to do for the schools.

“Today's unanimous vote by the commission shows the importance of this long term fix,” Tyler said. “Baldwin County has a lot of issues to address as we face amazing growth but this one has been resolved with today's action. We expect to partner with the Baldwin County Commission to continue working through these and other issues related to growth with a positive outlook to the future of Baldwin County.”

The current tax is set to expire May 31, 2018, but the continuation voted on by the commission would not have a expiration date, which allows the school system to have a sustainable source of funding.

“This action taken today provides some security and some certainty to the board of education so that they can get back to the business of educating our children and get out of the keg of politics and having to campaign,” Elliott said. “This won’t fix all of their problems, but it’s certainly going to do a lot.”

Tyler agreed that this action took a lot of worry off of school officials.

“For the past few years there has been great concern about the expiring one penny sales tax, which provides nearly $40 million for Baldwin County Public Schools,” Tyler said. “We spent a great part of 2016 in discussions with local leaders about a long term funding solution that would end the recurring renewals. With what happened today, we can move forward with more certainty about the economic future of our system.”

According to state statute, the commission has the authority to pass and levy a replacement sales and use tax and they felt it necessary to use that authority.

“The commission has, by statute, the authority to levy a sales tax for the board education only to be used for education,” Commissioner Frank Burt said. “I’m pleased to be a part of that.”

Burt thanked former Baldwin County Superintendent J. Larry Newton for his work in helping to bring the school board and commission together on this deal, calling him a “continued friend of education in Baldwin County for many, many years.”

Commissioner Tucker Dorsey called the move a “leadership issue,” and said he was glad the commission and school board could come together to fix this problem.

“Education is the lynchpin for what we do in this county,” Dorsey said. “Education provides opportunities, and these kids this benefits are the people that are going to make Baldwin County move forward and have opportunities for a long term future. Rather than have the board focus on campaigns and what to do next, we want them focused on what they should be doing - educating our children.”

Commissioner Skip Gruber said looking at the rapid growth the county had seen, helping the school board by continuing the tax was a “necessary move.”

“The only way we can address this growth is to help the school board and make sure they have sufficient funds to be able to do what they need to do,” Gruber said.

The action was a part of a deal between the school board and commission. With the commission voting to pass the tax continuation, the school board will likely vote at their next meeting to ask the Baldwin County legislative delegation to agree to a reallocation of existing sales tax revenues.

Currently, the board of education receives 55 percent of those funds, while the county government receives 40 percent. If the school board votes on the resolution presented to the commission, those numbers would be flipped - with the county receiving the 55 percent.

Elliott said the reallocation would amount to almost $5 million a year.

“That measure will send an additional $5 million this next year to the county commission to use for roads and other desperately needed issues facing us,” Elliott said.

Elliott was quick to stress that all of the continuations and reallocations discussed at the meeting did not create any new taxes.

“The action taken by this commission today has no additional taxes on the people of Baldwin County,” Elliott said. “The penny tax continuation will only go into effect on the expiration of the current levied tax. The reallocation of the 55/40 tax is also going to create no additional taxes. We are working within the confines of what we’ve been given - we’re not levying additional taxes, but facing the problems of the county together.”

State Senator Greg Albritton, who was in attendance at the meeting, said he looked forward to discussing the tax reallocation with the other members of the legislative delegation.

“This has been discussed between every government entity in Baldwin County, from cities to the school board to the commission and the state delegation,” Albritton said. “We’ve had a lot of ideas and a lot of meetings and struggles trying to figure out what we’re going to do. Today, we may have a solution.”