Staff Reports
Pinellas County voters will have their final opportunity on Tuesday to decide on a referendum that would renew an existing tax funding public education and expand it to provide more funding for teacher and support staff bonuses and enhanced curricula.
Currently, Pinellas County property owners pay a half mil property tax to support public schools, meaning property owners pay 50 cents per every $1,000 of assessed value. That tax has been in place since 2004, when voters initially approved it.
The Pinellas County School Board has placed a referendum on the ballot asking to renew the tax, and to raise the millage rate to 1.0 from 0.5 on May 14, meaning property owners would pay $1 per every $1,000 of assessed value on their property.
If passed, additional revenue from the tax would fund enhanced art, reading and technology programs, increasing available funding from $12.5 million to $18.7 million. The increased rate would also increase teachers’ supplemental pay from about $6,000 to $11,000.
Charter schools would also benefit from the passage of the additional half mil property tax.
Passage would also add to state funding and be used to buy computers and software, support “intensive small group reading programs,” fund field trips and support band programs, according to the School Board.
Referendum spending is overseen by an independent citizens committee, whose reports are publicly available.
School Board candidate Stacy Geier has voiced opposition to the referendum. She has said funding for teacher pay and curriculum is important, but that the district should find ways to accomplish those goals through already available revenue streams.
If voters do not approve the tax, it would end in June and teachers would lose the current teacher bonuses, also known as supplemental pay, they currently receive. District officials worry that loss could lead to a mass exodus of educators not willing to accept what would essentially be a pay cut.
Precedent suggests the referendum could sail to easy passage. The property tax earned about 63% support when it was first brought to voters in 2004. Four years ago, when voters were asked to renew it, it garnered about 79% support.
Neighboring Hillsborough County also has a referendum on the ballot to increase property tax to fund public schools. Like Pinellas County, the tax would be $1 per $1,000 in taxable value. The $177 million would go to funding annual $6,000 supplements for teachers and administrators and $3,000 supplements for support staff. Voters would have to reauthorize this additional tax in four years, should it pass this year.
_______
Naomi Risch reporting.
