The Tuscaloosa News reports that Huntsville U.S. Federal District Court Judge Lynwood Smith will begin hearing a trial today in which parents of children in certain impoverished parts of Alabama challenge Alabama's tax system. Those parents claim the system is unconstitutional because it does not adequately provide funding for poorer school systems while more affluent areas of the state receive greater levels of funding. The parents particularly are focused on Alabama's antiquated property tax system. They are asking the judge to throw out that system and give the Alabama Legislature one year to find an acceptable alternative for funding. See, http://m.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110321/news/110329977/1007/judge_to_hear_alabama_tax_system_lawsuit;jsessionid=4E9ED1B7ED2D8F8456AFCD475FA16B58.m1
Readers will recall that this is not the first such legal attempt to overturn Alabama's property tax system. In 1990, the Alabama Coalition for Equity ("ACE"), representing several poorer Alabama school systems brought suit against the state in Montgomery County Circuit Court. In 1991, the Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed a similar lawsuit, which was later combined with the ACE lawsuit. Although that combined lawsuit was initially successful, it faltered on appeal and little, if any, change was made in Alabama's tax system as a result.
This case differs in that it has been brought in federal court, not state court. It remains to be seen if that changes the ultimate outcome. Given the state's current financial condition, one would assume there would be long and hard court fight if any decision is rendered against the state by the trial court.
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