BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS - A $240 MILLION BOND: AND FOUR QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING

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📜 LADY BUDGETDOWN | BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

A $240 MILLION BOND: AND FOUR QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING

Birmingham Public Schools voters are expected to consider a $240 million bond proposal this November.

Lady Budgetdown went back through Birmingham's previous capital planning and bond records, not to tell anyone how to vote, but to understand how this request fits into the district's longer-term plan.

And there is some important history.

Birmingham developed a 10-year capital plan in 2019 that identified approximately $470 million in escalated facility needs and divided them into three priority periods.

The first priority became the $195 million bond approved by voters in 2020.

But approximately $276 million in Priority 2 and Priority 3 needs remained in that original long-range plan.

Now, six years later, Birmingham is proposing another $240 million bond.

That doesn't necessarily mean the district is asking taxpayers to pay twice. In fact, some of today's needs may be exactly the later-phase work Birmingham anticipated years ago. But that makes the old roadmap particularly useful.

🪶 Four questions Lady Budgetdown thinks are worth asking:

1. Where are we on the original roadmap?

How much of the proposed $240 million represents Priority 2 and Priority 3 work already identified in Birmingham's 2019 10-year capital plan? How much is new?

2. Where does the 2020 bond stand today?

What has been completed, what remains under contract or construction, how much funding remains, and when will the $195 million program officially close?

3. What debt are taxpayers already carrying?

Birmingham's June 30, 2025 audit reported approximately $263.6 million in outstanding general-obligation bond principal, with existing debt-service schedules extending into the 2040s. How will another $240 million be layered onto that existing debt?

4. What does "no increase in the current millage rate" actually mean?

If another $240 million can be borrowed without increasing the current debt millage rate, what makes that possible—retiring debt, growth in taxable value, refinancing, the repayment schedule, or some combination? And what will the total principal and interest cost of the new bond be?

There is context on both sides.

Birmingham appears to have developed a genuine long-range capital strategy rather than discovering all of these needs overnight. The district has also refinanced previous debt, with its 2025 audit reporting approximately $1.64 million in reduced future debt-service payments from one refunding.

But accountability isn't deciding whether a bond is good or bad before asking questions. It's being able to follow the money from one plan to the next. Birmingham gave taxpayers a 10-year roadmap before the 2020 bond.

With another $240 million now proposed, perhaps the simplest question is:

Show us where we are on that roadmap.

Sources: Birmingham Public Schools 2019–20 Strategic Capital Planning documents; BPS Bond 2020 records and resolutions; Birmingham Public Schools audited financial statements, FY 2024–25; BPS Board records regarding the proposed 2026 bond.

With receipts and respect. 🪶

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