Next week, Floridians and citizens across the nation will fill out their ballots to cast their votes on several important candidates and issues. As the Sun has already covered the county’s Whole Cent Sales Tax Referendum elsewhere in this edition, it is now time to look into the school board’s half-cent sales and millage taxes.
The referendum was passed by the school district via a special election on September 8, 2015, and $107 million in funds have been collected for the half-cent tax since January 2016. Another $32 million has also been collected since 62 percent of voters approved the one mill tax in 2020. Tuesday’s vote will decide whether to continue these measures or not.
Hernando County Superintendent Ray Pinder notes that the decision is a forward-thinking one as the sales tax is a 10-year term. “We not only have to look at today, but if it’s approved, five, six, eight, nine years from now, we may have a need that we need to address,” he said.
The half-cent tax’s purpose is to collect the funds needed for capital improvements for Hernando County’s schools. Superintendent Pinder defined capital improvements as “big-ticket items” such as roofing, air conditioners/chillers, HVAC, drainage, and other construction/reconstruction projects.
Such items are “reoccurring calendar event[s]” that necessitate payments due to their limited shelf-lives, Pinder stated. The intense Florida heat (air conditioning) and the state’s vulnerability to tropical storms (roofing) see to that. Smaller issues, such as maintenance, do not fall under that umbrella, he added.
Former Hernando County Superintendent John Stratton noted in the August 22, 2023, Half-Cent Citizens Accountability Committee meeting that “We’re seeing “newer” chillers having issues (some only around 3 years old).” Mr. Pinder reassures us that such air conditioners are largely under warranty and that these climate control devices are generally expected to last anywhere from 10 to 15 years, with variation.
The proposal on this year’s ballot adds one new caveat for the usage of the funds: the ability to be used for the building or expansion of schools. However, the half-cent sales tax will not tack on any additional costs to voters that they are not currently paying. It will allow them to allocate some of the collected revenue towards areas that require expansion as Hernando faces a population boom.
November’s referendum will also determine whether to renew the one-mill tax that was originally passed in 2020. The millage is on a four-year refresh rate as opposed to the sales tax’s 10-year cycle.
According to the Hernando School District’s Referendum Information Hub FAQ page, this tax will continue to be used “to recruit and retain quality teachers, keep students safe, add mental health resources and enhance successful academic and career and technical programs.”
Mr. Pinder broke down the millage into percentages on Monday: teacher salaries (50 percent), mental health and safety (25 percent), technology (15 percent), and continuation of academic programs (10 percent).
The millage tax aids in retention by supplementing each of their most veteran teachers’ paychecks with over $5000 per year. Naturally, the senior staff’s salaries are boosted more than newer educators.
“It is important that we have that to keep our most veteran teachers, our most experienced teachers, because they are the ones that are going to be available to mentor those new teachers that we have coming into the district every day,” said Pinder.
Regarding safety, the millage tax has allowed them to have an SRO at every school as well as an additional guardian at the middle, K8, and high schools. The goal of Pinder and company is to have a guardian and SRO at every school, including elementary, in the future.
The site continues that if voters turn down the two taxes, the school district may not be able to maintain its competitive edge when endeavoring to hire staff, retain talent, and maintain the safety of local schools.
Mr. Pinder wanted to reassure voters that Tuesday’s vote is for a continuation of what people are already paying, not a new tax. If these taxes are voted to be renewed, citizens can join oversight committees to ensure the money is being properly used.
“Hernando County should feel confident that we have spent the money exactly as we promised and that we will continue to do that,” Pinder said. “The better indicator of future performance is past performance. Our past performance is that we have spent this exactly how we said, and we will continue to do that.”
