Elberta’s Mayor pro tem Jim Hamby has a passion for the schools and children of Baldwin County, and he has developed a new plan that could be used to help bring much needed funds back into the county’s school system.

At a recent Baldwin County Board of Education meeting, Hamby presented his proposal – called the Totally Individualized Program, or T.I.P. for short.

“It would be a volunteer program that could help replace at least some of the money lost from the failed 1 mill renewal,” Hamby said.

Hamby’s plan calls for residents to voluntarily increase the amount of millage they’re willing to pay to support the county’s schools.

“The beauty of this plan is that the people that don’t want to support the public schools don’t have to, but those people that do want to support them now have an opportunity to do so,” Hamby said. “I think this could be done a lot easier than trying for another countywide vote because there are just some folks who are always going to vote ‘No’ no matter what.”

Under the T.I.P. plan, county taxpayers could elect to add additional millage to their property tax bill each year.

The plan has five levels: Bronze (1 additional mill), Silver (3 additional mills), Gold (5 additional mills), Platinum (8 additional mills) and Platinum Plus (11 additional mills).

Hamby said for the average homeowner in Baldwin County, each mill would work out to around $18, which he felt is a palatable number for most families.

Participants in the T.I.P. system would also have a say in which feeder pattern and school the money they elected to send would be spent, helping to make sure the money raised is used by the schools the taxpayers choose to support.

“One issue that was raised by the countywide tax votes is that money raised in one part of the county might be sent to a whole different area,” Hamby said. “This would give people direct control over where that money was going, which makes them more likely to use and support this plan.”

Hamby said he has reached out to Probate Judge Tim Russell and Revenue Commissioner Teddy Faust, who both said the county’s legislative delegation would need to be involved in making the plan become a reality.

Baldwin County Board of Education President Shannon Cauley said she was intrigued by the idea and hoped it might be something that could be implemented.

“I think it’s a great idea if we can make it happen,” Cauley said. “I applaud Mayor pro tem Hamby for advocating for education and finding alternate ways to support our schools.”

Hamby said he has reached out to the county’s legislative delegation and he hopes that group will be able to move forward with the idea.

“I just want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support our schools and give our children and grandchildren the best educational opportunities we can,” Hamby said. “This is just one way that we can try to help.”