Irondale citizens vote down property tax increase

Irondale residents voted Tuesday against raising the city’s property tax. Photo of the Irondale Municipal Complex courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Irondale citizens voted Tuesday not to increase property taxes in the city, despite officials’ insistence that the increase would knock down the city’s $1.6-million budget deficit.

The measure would have increased the city’s property tax by 6 mills — roughly $60 more dollars per year for a $100,000 home. In Tuesday’s special election, though, citizens denied the measure, with 729 voting no and 639 voting yes.

Mayor Charles Moore had publicly supported the measure, saying that it would generate roughly $900,000 a year for the city, which he told WBRC would go toward road improvements, stormwater management, and parks and recreation facilities, among other things. Now, he says, Irondale’s government is “going to have to make tough decisions going forward.”