The school system built a new elementary school last year and has already broken ground on another. Even though Madison is booming, it's still a relatively small town with a tiny retail base and no industry to speak of. There's no movie theater, no car dealerships, no mall. It sounds silly to get so worked up over a Wal-Mart, but that's reality for Alabama cities. Because property taxes in the state are so low, they cover only a fraction of the cost of running a police department, installing new water lines and paving streets.
Sales taxes are where Alabama cities sink or swim.
A big chain like Wal-Mart attracts hundreds of thousands of shoppers a year, and a portion of every dollar they spend goes to the city government. That's where growing cities get the money for more police officers and firefighters and trash collectors. Growth isn't a bad thing for a city. Given a choice, I think most people would prefer to live in a place that's prospering instead of a place that's withering away. Madison and Auburn both appear to be making that effort.