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By EMILY SPARACINO | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – The city of Chelsea is inviting its residents to complete a short survey about the city’s potential formation of an independent school system.

The Chelsea City School System Survey includes questions related to whether residents would support Chelsea having its own school system and property taxes to finance it, plus facility renovations or new construction.

“This is an online survey to gauge your interest in the formation of a Chelsea city school system,” Mayor Tony Picklesimer said during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 21. “This is pretty important stuff. Regardless of how you feel about the formation of a city school system, please take the time to do the survey and let us hear it. We want to hear from you.”

As of Dec. 21, the survey had garnered 803 responses, 632 of which were from Chelsea residents, Picklesimer said.

“We have 11,264 registered voters in our city, so 5 percent of our registered voters have responded to our survey,” he said. “This entire project will come down to what citizens in Chelsea city limits would like to see happen.”

The survey consists of the following six questions:

• Are you in favor of Chelsea having its own city school system?
• Currently, Chelsea residents pay zero in city property tax. Would you vote for a fair property tax to finance a Chelsea City School system?
• Are you willing to vote for a $600 per year property tax to renovate existing school facilities?
• Are you willing to vote for a higher property tax for the construction of a new Chelsea High School?
• Are you in favor of limiting attendance of the Chelsea City School system to only students within Chelsea city limits?
• Do you live in the Chelsea city limits?

The survey can be accessed on the city’s website, Cityofchelsea.com, and the City of Chelsea, Alabama Facebook page.