Your source for community topics and thoughts

Sounding off on alcohol sales
“Why must we spend more precious time and money with this again? As reported, Hartselle overwhelmingly defeated this a few years ago. Falkville recently voted no. Why waste tax dollars with another vote? Why don’t you unhappy few just move to Decatur and leave Hartselle the way most people here prefer. Obviously, most citizens do not think it is a positive step for Hartselle. For all businesses involved in the petitions, you’ve just lost a customer probably more than one.”

Sounding off on elected school board
“The school board needs to be elected by the people of Hartselle. With an appointed board they do what they want without having to worry about their jobs, Make them worry about having to explain to the voters why they have put certain polices in place. Make them accountable, make them an elected body come November.”

Sounding off on out-of-district students
“All people in Morgan County pay property taxes, and our taxes are given to Hartselle City Schools and Decatur City Schools. I pay more to Hartselle City Schools than the average resident of Hartselle, though my kids do not attend Hartselle Schools. If I lived in the city limits, my rate would go up less than $25 that would be earmarked strictly for Hartselle. Most of our education for all students money comes from state tax dollars.”

“Here is a breakdown of area property taxes:
Property taxes – 39.4 total mills
• City 5mills
• City Schools 11.3 mills
• Countywide Schools 5.8 mills – Divided between all public K-12 schools in county
• County 10.8 mills
• State 6.5 mills
As you can see, those of us who live on large county farms do indeed pay taxes to all the school systems. This means that some families in the county, who helped build the original schools in Hartselle, pay more to Hartselle City Schools than residents. Yet we, the descendents of those who founded the city, are excluded from our ancestors’ schools simply because we did not sell our farms and homeplaces and move into town.”

“You should be grateful that the county takes the city students at no charge. There are many more Hartselle city children attending Morgan County Schools than the other way around, I would bet.  At least your school system gets the benefit of additional dollars over what the state pays. We just get more crowding in the county.”

The Hartselle Enquirer’s e-sound off is an  opportunity for residents to provide anonymous comments about community issues. All comments are subject to editing. The Editor reserves the right to refuse publication. In the event of several submissions on a single topic, a representative comment may be used. Comments can include your thoughts on local issues, questions about policies or procedures or praise for a community group, business or person. Email your comments to news@hartselleenquirer.com with “Sound-off” in subject line.