NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Early voting started Wednesday in Nassau County with a question for voters about the future of their schools.
The Nassau County School District is asking voters to approve a property tax increase — similar to what more than 20 other Florida counties have done, including Duval County in August.
Through Nov. 8, voters in Nassau County have to decide whether they want to add 1 mill to their property tax rate. It works out to $1 of extra taxes for every $1,000 of property value. That’s roughly $275 a year, or $23 bucks a month, for a home valued at $300,000.
It’s expected to generate $13.7 million, most of which — 70% — will go toward hiring and retaining classroom teachers. Twelve percent will fund health and safety efforts, 9% will bolster athletic programs and the remaining 9% will go to the arts.
NEWS4JAX VOTER’S GUIDE: Nassau County schools 1 mil property tax referendum
Superintendent Dr. Kathy Burns said the way a school district budget is crafted allows very little influence over how certain dollars are spent.
“We basically have two pots of money: We have capital funds and operating funds. This millage being proposed as for operating funds are used just for that — for operating our district for paying personnel,” Burns said.
The millage rate has actually been decreasing in recent years, going from 5.8 mills in 2012 to 3.6 mills currently. So, even if the referendum passes, the millage rate will still be below where it was just 7 years ago.
Still, not everyone is on board with the plan.
“Property owners should not have to bear the cost when it could be more beneficial to spread it over different resources, not just property owners,” one News4JAX viewer wrote.
Another said, “This is the wrong time for this to happen. We are all suffering from gas and food hikes.. now taxes? How is this even fair?”
Nassau County is now ranked 40th out of 67 Florida counties for average teacher experience.
“Experience matters. We need experienced teachers, as leaders in their schools, as leaders in their subject area curriculum,” Burns said.
News4JAX recently spoke with U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who echoed that idea.
“No matter what bells and whistles you put in, you need a highly qualified teacher for that classroom. So ensuring that money is being used to keep high-quality, highly qualified teacher teachers with degrees in teaching, making sure that there are pipeline programs to get people into the profession, that’s a strategy that’s always going to help children,” Cardona said.
If Nassau County’s referendum passes, the district will also form a citizen’s oversight committee to review how the tax revenue is spent.