According to early voting results, the Millage Referendum Proposal (also known as Referendum No. 2 or “Hillsborough School Tax”) seems to have passed, with results showing 66.44% approval, with 427 of 448 precincts reporting.
The Referendum proposed a hotly-contested property tax increase that would cost $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value. The tax would start July 1 and go for four years before renewal. That makes for an estimated $177 million a year, to be split between public schools (85%) and charter schools (15%).
Hillsborough County Public Schools claimed it would use 90% of its cut to boost pay by $6,000 for teachers and some administrators and $3,000 for other staff.
Hillsborough is currently lagging behind nearby counties with starting salaries at $47,501. In comparison, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee used funds raised via their millages to pay starting teachers as much as $57,000 a year.
The district also says it has nearly 500 teacher vacancies, leaving an estimated 10,000 students without a full-time educator, and 150 bus driver vacancies.
Earlier this year, the Republican-led Hillsborough County Commission’s attempted to block the Referendum from the November election, arguing that it was not the right time to raise taxes. However, a judge sided with the school district and ordered it to be placed at the bottom of the ballot.
A similar millage referendum was proposed by Hillsborough County Public Schools in 2022, and that proposal failed to pass by less than 600 votes out of the 221,000 cast.
This is a developing post.
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This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2024.