In an email to Madison City students and faculty, Superintendent Robby Parker said, “Tonight, the 12-mil tax increase for our school system was approved 70.5% to 29.5%. It is not easy asking for a tax increase. But this was necessary to continue the world class education Madison City Schools delivers and citizens have come to expect.” There were 6,575 yes votes and 772 no votes.

According to WHNT News 19, “A Madison home assessed at $200,000 currently has a property bill at $1,150. The proposed 12-mil increase would increase that figure to $1,390, a $240 increase.” Triana’s residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the tax with 86.3% voting yes. District 5 had the least support for the tax with only 61.9% voting yes.

Recently, Madison’s population increased, and many of those new families have school-age children. Because of this, overcrowding is an issue in most of the schools, but with the new tax vote, MCS will have an additional 8.4 million annually to spend on, according to Robby Parker, an elementary school projected for 2021, a middle school for 2022, a new PreK center for West Madison Elementary, and expansions on Bob Jones and James Clemens High Schools.

Ranae Bartlett, Madison City board member, shared with teachers via email, “Yesterday our community and voters affirmed the work [teachers] do every day to make Madison special.” 

Yunona Shkolnikov, a senior at Bob Jones, stated, “I believe this tax increase is a great idea considering Madison’s population is growing and we definitely need new schools for those families. I’ve noticed many new neighborhoods are being built around the area, however, other schools are still far from those neighborhoods and traffic is a hassle so the extra money will help a lot to build schools that are closer to those areas.”