By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The ball is back in the court with the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, after a circuit court judge ruled the BOCC must “take all action necessary” to secure on the ballot in November a property tax referendum for teacher pay and other employee compensation.
Superintendent Van Ayres, at a press conference Aug. 3, said he is “grateful that Hillsborough County residents will now have that opportunity to vote on the millage referendum” in the Nov. 5 general election.
Not so fast, though.
Still to address the court ruling is the BOCC, which, by the order of circuit court judge Elizabeth Peacock, is required to meet on the matter no later than Aug. 13. The deadline to ask the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections to place a referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot is Aug. 20. There are reports that at least some commissioners will seek to appeal the court order.
Rob Kriete, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, taught English at Riverview High. He holds a pin in favor of the ad valorem tax referendum, in part for a teacher pay supplement.
Driving the court’s action is the BOCC’s 4-3 vote July 17, which blocked the school board’s move to advance a property tax referendum for voters to consider in November. The BOCC voted, instead, to defer the referendum until 2026, and to ask voters this year, in November, to renew the Community Investment Tax, the half-cent sales tax for infrastructure needs that after a 30-year run is set to expire in November 2026. The school district is set to receive 5 percent of CIT dollars for capital needs, down from the 25 percent it had been receiving since 1996.
Meanwhile, the one millage proposal for operating dollars, as approved by the school board in a 5-2 vote April 2, would levy $1 on every $1,000 of taxable property value. Collections would begin in 2025. For a home valued at $350,000, the tax would be $350.
School district officials estimate the measure would raise $177 million to fund a $6,000 salary supplement for teachers, principals and other administrators, and a $3,000 supplement for support staff, including lunchroom workers, bus drivers and support personnel.
Judge Peacock, in her expedited Aug. 2 ruling, granted the school district’s emergency petition for a “writ of mandamus,” based in part on a similar situation in Indian River County in Florida, in which the court acknowledged the district school board had the authority to set the date for a vote on its resolution. The vote had been blocked by county commissioners.
Hillsborough County commissioner Harry Cohen offered his assessment at the Aug. 3 press conference.
“The real question is whether or not the county commission is going to place the referendum on the ballot, as the judge’s writ of mandamus instructs us to do,” Cohen said. He noted that while comments had been made publicly by some commissioners, “essentially saying they’re willing to be held in contempt [of court],” he believes “it is our responsibility at this moment to place this matter on the ballot so that voters can decide” for themselves.
Meanwhile, this year’s collective bargaining agreement has resulted in a modest $500 increase for beginning teachers, bringing their salary up to $48,000 a year. Teachers at the top of the union scale, who no longer get step increases, are to receive a $2,000 bump.
Ayres said he understands the weight of asking for a tax increase, but counters that it has become necessary given the actions of surrounding districts. “With the economy the way it sits right now, we don’t take this ask lightly at all,” Ayres said. But with teacher pay referendums on the ballot this year in Hernando, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, it’s imperative to be competitive, Ayres said, “to be able to recruit and retain the very best teachers.”
With school set to open Aug. 12, Ayres said the district has 500 teacher vacancies, which means “approximately 8,000 students will not be served in the manner our parents and community expect.” Moreover, he said, “we have approximately 118 bus driver vacancies, which means we will have students who are late to school.”
Rob Kriete, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, addressed the issue at the Aug. 3 press conference.
“Bottom line, kids need dependable bus rides to school, they need support professionals meeting their needs and they need high quality teachers in every single classroom,” said Kriete, who taught English at Riverview High.
Stepping into the realm of local control, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke out against Hillsborough’s referendum, at an unrelated news conference July 24 at St. Petersburg College.
“You do not need to raise anybody’s taxes,” DeSantis said. “Why are you trying to raise property taxes in the midst of some of the worst inflation we’ve seen in the modern history of this country.” DeSantis announced June 10 his commitment to raise state funds for teacher salaries to $1.25 billion, an increase of almost $200 million dollars.
Heralding the move were Florida Department of Education officials, who reported the state has “the highest average starting teacher salary in the southeast United States,” which according to the National Education Association, in a 2014 report, places Florida 16th in the nation overall. The starting salary is $47,178.
Linda Chion Kenney
Superintendent Van Ayres speaks at the Aug. 3 press conference as commissioner Harry Cohen readies to speak.
But the NEA report, which accounts for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, further reports that the average teacher pay in Florida is $53,098, a 3.6 percent increase from the previous year. Florida ranks 50th on that list, ahead of only West Virginia, where the average teacher pay is $52,870. The NEA reports the minimum living wage in Florida is $58,970.
Voting against the millage referendum for placement on the November ballot were Hillsborough Republican commissioners Ken Hagan, Donna Cepeda, Christine Miller and Joshua Wostal, who led the charge. Voting for the referendum were Democrats Cohen, Pat Kemp and Gwen Myers. The vote came roughly one month after DeSantis appointed Miller, still serving as executive director of the Plant City Chamber of Commerce, to fill the District 4 seat vacated by Michael Owen, for which Miller had been, and remains, a candidate. Owen in July vacated his seat and reelection campaign to run instead for the District 70 seat in the Florida House of Representatives, after Republican Mike Beltran announced he would not seek reelection.