Our hats are off to the Town of McKenzie. The town council voted unanimously to increase their local sales taxes by one-cent in order to help address the facilities issue that has plagued the Butler County School System for decades. The tax increase goes into effect on April 1.

While McKenzie is not exactly the commercial center of Butler County, the town's actions on Monday night were symbolic in that it showed its commitment to McKenzie School. And in fact its commitment to the children of our school system and the promise of building a better future for generations to come.

McKenzie Principal Randy Williams said people would be hard put to find a rural school in Alabama where there is as much love and support from the community as there is in McKenzie. We agree. The McKenzie Town Council reaffirmed that love and support on Monday.

It's a blunt statement, but local governments in our county have done a poor job of financially supporting the school system for years. Other than the Greenville City Council - which voted on a sales tax increase to build the new Greenville High School - our municipalities and county government have neglected its responsibility to the school children of Butler County in the past.

McKenzie took the first step toward shedding that image on Monday night. We hope other government bodies follow suit.