School Board wants tax hike on fall ballot

By Karen Voyles
Sun Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

What´s it worth to have nurses in every Alachua County school? How about current technology in middle and high school magnet centers? Or art, music and physical education teachers in elementary schools?

The Alachua County School Board wants to put those questions to voters in the form of a referendum later this year. The board voted unanimously Tuesday night to begin the process to get a Voter Approved Operating Millage on the November general election ballot.

The idea, presented by Superintendent Dan Boyd, involves assessing from an additional half mill up to a full mill on taxable property countywide for four years. The money raised could only be used for operating costs, not construction. The assessment would disappear after the fourth year unless voters approved an extension.

“What we´re asking is to be able to tax ourselves to support our schools so that we can continue to ensure quality services for our students,“ Boyd said.

In Alachua County, 1 mill equals $100 for every $100,000 in assessed value and a half mill equals $50 for each $100,000 in assessed value. If your home were assessed at $100,000 by the property appraiser, you would pay an additional $100 a year for four years under the proposal.

District officials estimated that a full mill would raise about $13 million, slightly less than what the Legislature cut from the district´s approximately $200 million budget over the past year. A half mill assessment would raise about $6.5 million.

“This would not help us in the year ahead, because it would not be on the ballot until the fall,“ said Keith Birkett, the district´s assistant superintendent for planning, budgeting and systems accountability.

District officials and board members said they are bracing themselves for even more cuts in state funding.

“We expect to see the equivalent of this again next year in cuts,“ said board member Wes Eubank, referring to the $14 million cut from the budget during the current school year.

Board member Tina Pinkoson urged fellow board members to vote for the measure by telling them that finding a new source of money “is almost a survival thing for us. We´ve been dealt a hand that means we have to find an alternative source.“ Before taking the matter to a vote, board chairwoman Janie Williams told Boyd, “I like what I heard. We really need to put this idea out there - that we are in dire need of money to maintain the quality of education in our schools.“

The head of the teachers union also endorsed the idea on Tuesday night.

Alachua County Education Association president Gunnar Paulson told the board he thought the operating millage plan “is a great idea. This is a crisis we have to get through.“

Then Paulson turned to Boyd and told the superintendent, “When you say charge, I´ll be there.“

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