After weeks of unease in Baldwin County, Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft accused the county school system of conducting a “deliberate misinformation campaign” regarding bills to change the origin or distribution of a portion of a one-cent sales tax.
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach want their share of 40% of the tax. Since its creation, the tax has been used for capital projects for Baldwin County Public Schools. Now that two other public school systems exist in the county, leaders in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores say the money collected in their jurisdictions should go back to fund their schools.
“Our position is simple: The money should follow the students,” Craft said in his latest statement on the matter. “Every citizen in Baldwin County pays this tax, and every child who attends a public school in Baldwin County should benefit equitably from it — or the tax should not be charged in an area where public school students don’t receive any benefit.”
“This concept is fair and straightforward,” he continued. “However, once again, we must endure a deliberate misinformation campaign from the Baldwin County Public Schools machine. Instead of standing behind their word and doing what we all agreed to six years ago, they are resorting to the same misinformation and scare tactics they used during our attempt to separate and form Gulf Shores City Schools.”
A bill by State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) would provide that any county sales and use tax authorized by local law, where any portion of the proceeds is distributed to a county board of education for capital projects, that portion of the tax to be distributed to the county board of education for capital projects may only be levied in areas served by the county board of education.
The bill passed the Senate County and Municipal Government committee on Tuesday after members heard from Baldwin County Schools CFO John Wilson.
“They are more concerned about preserving their $750 million per year education bureaucracy than doing what is fair and equitable for all public school children in Baldwin County,” Craft continued in his statement. “Instead of doing what is right, Baldwin County Public Schools CSFO John Wilson stood before the Senate committee yesterday [Tuesday], claiming their school system might default on their debt obligations if this legislation passed.”
Craft claimed the amount of money that would be taken from the county and given to municipalities is only 0.005% of the Baldwin County Public Schools budget.
“Mr. Wilson’s claims that this legislation will cause them financial instability are absolutely false,” Craft added. “Instead of treating all public school students in our county fairly and teaching our kids the value of sharing, Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler says children in Gulf Shores don’t deserve to benefit from this revenue because they are ‘wealthy.”
“His statements ignore that all Gulf Shores schools are Title I eligible, meaning over 40% of our students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program,” the mayor said. “This type of divisive rhetoric that continues to come from Mr. Tyler and Baldwin County Public Schools is creating friction across our entire county.”
Craft ended his statement by saying, “I don’t wish this fight on any other city or county in our state. That is why the legislature must pass Senator Weaver’s statewide bill into law and stop this injustice from ever occurring again.”
