JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There are just over three weeks until ballot collection ends for the 2020 election and voters decide on a measure to implement a half-cent sales tax to fix aging schools in Duval County.
The measure’s backers say they’re concerned about the ballot itself, particularly where the tax question is positioned on the ballot. Supporters of the measure say it might lead to some voters ignoring it or missing it altogether.
“There are two pages to the ballots," explained Jacksonville City Councilman Matt Carlucci, who’s co-chair of Duval Citizens for Better Schools. "You go to the second page of the ballot, and it’s right at almost at the bottom of the ballot. And it can be lost easily and as people sometimes try to get through the constitutional amendments, figuring out how they want to vote on those.”
Carlucci says he’s been advising voters to fill out the second page with referendums and ballot questions first and then work back and fill out their choices for president and other top-ticket races.
The half-cent sales tax would provide nearly $2 billion to address improvements at public schools in Duval County over the next 15 years. According to Duval County Public Schools, if approved, the cost of the referendum would average out to $6 per month for a family of four with an income of $56,000.
“It’ll make a big difference in Jacksonville in our future, and in our students, providing more opportunities and in helping them create a better workforce for Jacksonville," Carlucci said.
A recent poll by the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida found 68% of respondents surveyed said they plan to vote in favor of the tax. When the same question was asked of voters in June, that number was 75% -- indicating a slight erosion of support for the measure in the last four months.
An Eastside resident named Richard said: “...Mismanagement got us into the situation, now tax everybody. You can’t throw money at mismanagement. Why were the schools neglected so long?”
Carlucci says revenue cutbacks, not mismanagement, has led to the need for such a tax.
“We have to invest in our city, at times. And I think most people know that," Carlucci said. "That’s why it’s doing well in the polls if we’re going to move our city forward.”