JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Meeting Monday afternoon behind closed doors, the Duval County School Board decided to settle the lawsuit it filed against the city of Jacksonville last year after the City Council failed to put a sales tax referendum to fund school repairs on the ballot.
That move seemingly ends a year of disagreements over who had the authority to put the tax before voters -- a dispute that led to a lawsuit and a countersuit.
The School Board worked with Duval Teachers United and private attorneys Hank Coxe, Audrey Moran and Scott Cairns to sue the city. The School Board is normally represented by the city’s Office of General Counsel, which also represents the city, so the city countered with a lawsuit saying the School Board couldn’t hire its own lawyers. A judge ruled last month that the School Board had the authority to do so.
The private lawyers who assisted the School Board attended Monday’s special meeting after negotiating what they believe will be a settlement that moves quickly to the City Council process.
Several City Council members and Mayor Lenny Curry, who resisted putting the half-cent tax on a special election ballot last year, told News4Jax they were now supporting putting the question before voters this November. A bill authorizing the referendum is expected to be introduced Tuesday night and, after going through the process, voted on March 24.
“The mayor has said that he wants to get on the ballot for 2020, and we appreciate that,” School Board Chairman Warren Jones said. “It’s all about proving a safer learning environment for our children -- a 21st Century learning environment.”
At Monday’s meeting, the School Board voted 5-0 for the stipulation agreement. That settlement offer will be forward to the city’s attorneys and City Council.
“We thought the hardest part would be selling it to the voters, not realizing that the word ‘shall’ would be interpreted (by the general counsel) to mean ‘maybe’ or ‘maybe not,'" Jones said. “So that gave the City Council an opportunity to question it and it became not just a ministerial function to place on the ballot as we thought the statute said, but it became a legislative decision. It became a legislative dispute.”
State funding cuts for capital improvements at schools have reduced facility funding by almost $300 million over 11 years. School officials said this caused a
State funding cuts for capital improvements have reduced facility funding by almost $300 million over 11 years. School officials said this caused a $243 million backlog of maintenance projects. Because of the age of the schools, maintenance costs are expected to balloon to $1 billion in five years.
The tax would raise an estimated $1.2 billion to fix or replace dilapidated schools in Duval County over the next 15 years.
When the plan was first proposed last year, several Council members were concerned about how much money would be shared with charter schools. The bill was withdrawn.
This year the Florida legislature is considering a bill that would require charter schools to receive the same per-pupil funding as traditional schools from any tax revenue received from this and similar initiatives. If that bill passes, which is likely, it would take the question out of the hands of local officials.
Jones told News4Jax last week that he has concerns about charter schools, which tend to be relatively new, receiving equal funding as older, traditional schools that have buildings in need of a lot of attention.