More than three and a half years after a lawsuit was filed over how tax revenue is divided among school districts, it would appear all sides have reached an agreement.

At separate school board meetings Tuesday, the Athens City School Board and Limestone County School Board entered into executive session with attorneys to discuss terms of the agreement. The boards then passed unanimous resolutions in their respective regular sessions.

The Limestone County School Board approved two agreements Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk referred to as the “Apportionment Agreement” and “Side Agreement,” which are subject to the following three conditions:

1. The city of Athens Board of Education must approve the “Side Agreement” as written;

2. All school boards must approve the apportionment agreement as written; and

3. The state superintendent must approve the portion of the apportionment agreement regarding the division of ad valorem taxes.

Agreements were also set to be ratified by school systems in Madison and Huntsville, since they are also part of the lawsuit. It was unknown Tuesday how soon State Superintendent Michael Sentance could approve the agreement. Presiding Judge James Woodroof Jr. will have to issue a ruling before the terms can be finalized.

Athens City Schools Superintendent Dr. Trey Holladay released the following statement Tuesday, which provides insight into the specific terms of the agreement:

“Tonight the board voted to approve the settlement of long-running dispute over local tax dollars between Limestone County, Athens, Madison City and Huntsville boards of education. The board believes that the settlement is fair to all sides and is in the best interest of all school children of Limestone County. The case involved three local taxes. Two one-cent countywide sales taxes and a 5.5-mil countywide property tax.

“Through the settlement, Athens and Limestone County schools will continue to share in the proceeds of one of the 1-cent countywide sales taxes and Athens, Limestone (County), Madison and Huntsville will all share in the proceeds of the property tax. Over time, the remaining 1-cent countywide sales tax will also be divided between Athens, Limestone, Madison and Huntsville, but this will be phased in over a number of years and in such a manner that Athens and Limestone do not lose the amount of their current tax proceeds.

“There are other boards, groups that are considering this settlement and out of respect to this process, we will withhold further comment at this time.”