Bennett Says Special School Tax Election Will Cost $300,000

BRADENTON – In a workshop Tuesday, Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Michael Bennett told the Manatee School Board that his office will need $300,000 if the district is to conduct a March 20 special election to raise the school property tax.

Board members, who had anticipated the cost being lower when they voted 3-2 last month to conduct the referendum, asked if there was anyway to bring down the price. Bennett bluntly told them there was not, reminding him that he worked for the taxpayers and was in no position to give them less than the full value of their tax dollars. Bennett did also commend the board, however, for the work it's done in recovering from the financial mess of 2012.

During the divisive debate over the referendum vote, board members John Colon and Scott Hopes, who voted against the referendum, pointed out that the election could be conducted at no cost to taxpayers if it were put on the November 2018 ballot instead, just eight months later. Because that will be a gubernatorial election, and turnout for special elections is notoriously low, they also argued that more of the public would be participating in the decision.

Hopes also argued that the district needed to do more to show that the revenues are in fact needed, while more clearly presenting what the district would do with the additional monies and what metrics would be used to measure the results of the considerable taxpayer investment. Charlie Kennedy and Dave Miner, the board members who were the strongest proponents of the tax increase, argued that the district needed to hold an election in time to access the funds by next school year, should the referendum pass.

Board member Gina Messenger, who provided the swing vote to pass the measure after expressing reservations during previous discussions, again expressed concern Tuesday over billing taxpayers for a special election. Messenger asked staff to look into whether some sort of non-taxpayer funding would be available to conduct the election.