School Board, County Commission Debate Idea of Joint One-Cent Sales Tax Referendum
Posted
Jackson Falconer
Last updated at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4
PALMETTO – Open discussion between the board of county commissioners and the school board took place Tuesday at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, where the two boards debated the merits of a possible one-cent joint tax referendum for the infrastructure needs of both the county and the school district.
The idea of a joint tax came up after the county commission's meeting on April 26, when an advisory board recommended that county commissioners put out a referendum for a new half-cent tax to satisfy infrastructure needs in consideration of projected shortfalls in the county's budget. Voters will be deciding whether to renew the school district's half-cent sales tax in 2017 via referendum; renewal of the tax would be crucial for funding needed repairs to several district schools, as well as new schools that will soon be needed to accommodate the county's ever-expanding population.
Near the beginning of discussion, school board member Dave Miner said he believed that the school board's recent approval to reinstate impact fees at a partial rate–an issue that was brought up several times during the joint meeting–shouldn't be "locked in stone forever," and argued that the idea should be revisited following the November election due to the possible election of new members to each board. "God willing and voters willing, I will bring up removing that (impact fee) proviso as soon as possible" following the election, said Miner.
Impact fees are attached to newly built homes to help fund public services that expand due to population growth in an area. Both the school district and the county can institute their own impact fees, with the county having the final say in both matters. School district impact fees can be used to fund construction of new schools; the school district's collection of impact fees was suspended in 2009 following the beginning of the Great Recession.
Commissioner Robin DiSabatino later responded to Miner's pledge. "I totally disagree with what you said–that's pledging to change it down the road," she said, adding that such a pledge would be breaking her word to taxpayers. DiSabatino said that she couldn't support a joint tax. "No one is disputing the fact that we need money for the schools," she said, adding that the only dispute is the decision to reinstate school district impact fees at a partial rate, and that she would ask the school board to go back again and revisit their decision to do so.
Board member Bob Gause said he also supported the idea of the boards going together on a one-cent tax. He defended the caveat made to developers in November, when the school board voted to pass reinstatement of impact fees at 50 percent of the amount recommended by consulting firm TischlerBise, in return for two prominent county developers pledging to fund a campaign in support of a sales tax renewal.
"We felt it was the best chance of getting the sales tax extended," said Gause, who later added that more members of the community need to get involved in the discussion of a joint sales tax.
L-R: School board member Bob Gause, BOCC member Robin DiSabatino
and school board member Dave Miner at Tuesday's joint meeting.
Photo: John Rehill
Commissioner Charles Smith, who voted in January against approving the school board's request to extend impact fees at a partial rate, said he would advocate against any joint referendum with the school board. "I have no intention of supporting it if the 50 percent (school district impact fee rate) stays in there," he later added, saying he felt such a move would not be in the best interest of his constituents.
School board member Charlie Kennedy said he agreed with Smith, but for slightly different reasons. "As it stands now, I agree that we should not go together," he said. He expressed skepticism that tying a school sales tax renewal with a new county tax would be approved by voters. "I imagine a scenario where you would have people that support the school board and the county" and vice versa, but a combined tax "feels like it would be quite a burden to overcome," said Kennedy, though he also advised he would support whatever decision the school board makes in the end.
At one point during the meeting, Gause asked Superintendent Diana Greene what demographic would suffer the most from the absence of a sales tax renewal, with Greene responding by arguing, as she had at the school board's last two meetings: "It will be our students in poverty–in the central core." Greene added that some of the schools housing many of those students are in dire need of rebuilding and renovations, which could not be paid for with impact fees.
The two government boards also heard from several people during public comments.
United Way of Manatee president Philip Brown gives comment during the
meeting as school board member John Colon and BOCC member
Betsy Benac look on.
Photo: John Rehill
United Way of Manatee president Philip Brown spoke in favor of a one-cent tax, arguing that it was now the best way forward to meet long-term infrastructure needs. He also argued that some people in the community that oppose the joint tax and continue arguing for higher school impact fees are more for demonstrating their principles than moving forward in a way that effects the common good.
School board candidate Xtavia Bailey also argued for a one-cent tax. Of the school board's decision to lower the impact fee rate in exchange for a developer-funded campaign for sales tax renewal, she said: "When do we come together and say, 'Yeah it was a caveat but we're going to get with the developers to work together'? Let's do what we need to do."
Of more taxes, school board candidate Linda Schaich said, "You have an uphill battle to convince the taxpayers. Let's stop throwing money at your problems and find ways to become more efficient managing your finances."
Ed Goff said regarding the school district's reinstatement of impact fees at a partial rate, "We all want great schools. We don't want traffic. When we are giving away hundreds of millions of dollars, how can you ask for more money? There is a trust problem."
School board candidate Misty Servia said, "Our school board has made some decisions very hastily in the last few years only to regret making them." She argued that a joint tax would be too much of a gamble in terms of whether voters would pass it. "It's easier to extend a tax than to get a new tax," she said.
It was advised at the end of the meeting that more than one additional meeting between the two boards was likely needed to have a thorough discussion on the joint tax proposal. BOCC chair Vanessa Baugh said the county was expecting by May 23 to have a list of projects they could use with an added half-cent of sales tax, and asked that the school board do the same.
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