October 30, 2024 • 10 mins
Several Tampa Bay area school districts are asking voters to approve renewing, adding or raising taxes to pay for education, including Hillsborough, Hernando, Manatee and Sarasota. We speak with Beth Rawlins of Citizens for Pinellas Schools about the Nov. 5 referendum in that county to raise a school property tax from one-half mill to a full mill, or from $50 per $100,000 assessed to $100 per $100,000.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. Several Tampa Bay
area school districts have referendums on the ballot involving school funding.
Those include Hillsboro, Manatee, Sarasota, Hernando, and Penellas County. In Penellas,
there's a vote on renewing a local property tax for
schools and bringing it from a half mill to one meal,
or from fifty to one hundred dollars for each one
(00:22):
hundred thousand and assessed property value. Beth Rawlins is Chair
of Citizens for Panella Schools, speaking in support of the
referendum and joins us on Beyond the News. Beth Rawlins welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
All right, Well, now, this is a property tax that
has been in place for some years, and you want
to keep the tax in place, and if I understand correctly,
double it. And why do you think that Panellis needs
to raise that additional revenue and what are the district's
plans for that additional money.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, this referendum funding has been in place for twenty years.
We've enjoyed the support of the voters every four years
since its inception in two thousand and four. So this
is the sixth time that this is going before Panella's
county voters. In the event that the referendum dollars have
passed this time around, every one of our classroom teachers
(01:14):
will receive an eleven thousand dollars stipend on their salary
per year. We will also be able to raise a
little over eighteen million dollars for the areas in which
our funding is spent, which is art, music, technology and
reading programs. It allows for that small group instruction that
(01:35):
we know is so important to teaching kids to read.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Now many, as we mentioned, several counties in the Tampa
Bay area are in the process of voting on referendums
involving school taxes, and there's a certain amount of keeping
up with the Joneses here. It seems as counties compare
to each other. How does Panelas compare to neighboring districts
and the way it taxes for schools.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wellela actually is lagging behind our neighboring districts in the
way that it taxes for schools. All of our neighboring
districts have impact fees that go to support their school system.
Penelas does not all of our surrounding districts have sales
taxes that support their schools. Penellas County does not, and
all of our surrounding districts, with the exception of Hillsboro
(02:22):
which has their one mill on the ballot this November,
all of our surrounding districts have one mill property tax
that supports their schools. Penelas is a half mill. So
in two thousand and four when we put this into place,
a half mill was enough to keep us competitive in
hiring and retaining the best teachers. But now we need
(02:43):
to step up our game and we need to come
level to surrounding counties and we would like the full
mill of funding.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Is this money available to charter schools as well as
the ones operated by the district.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
By state law, we share our money with charter schools
on a per pupil allocation basis. The difference between us
in Panellas County and some other counties in the state
is that Penellus County's charter schools are all chartered through
the district and are all We do not have any
(03:18):
for profit or religious charter schools in Penellas County. They
all have a more of a focus on a different
kind of education, similar to a magnet school.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
How do you hold spending accountable with this particular property tax?
What's the mechanism?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, ironically, I was just in a meeting this morning.
We had a meeting at nine o'clock of our Independent
Citizens Oversight Committee, and so all financial dealings with the
referendum go through a quarterly analysis by an independent citizens group.
They are made up of representatives of the League of
(03:57):
Women Voters, the County Council of PTA, the Education Foundation,
the realtor organization coke Webs, which is an organization that
seeks to narrow the achievement gap arts for a complete education,
and the Penelas County Economic Development Council. So representatives from
(04:17):
all of those organizations get together and look at every
single dollar quarterly and have for the last twenty years.
They produce a report annually that provides transparency to the
public on how this money is spent. You can go
to PCSB dot org slash referendum and see twenty years
(04:39):
worth of reports on that. And again just this morning
the Oversight Committee met and fulfilled its duty in scrutinizing
every penny. And we do it all the time. So
we have a lot of accountability and transparency and Penelas County.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Now, what happens if the referend doesn't pass. Does the
current half mill stay in place or something else?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, the way, the way the legislature has structured this
is that the voters can go to the polls and
authorize taxation for the next four years. We have to
do it in four year increments. We can't do it
any longer. We have to come back and ask, and
we have to ask for what are we going to
collect for the next four years. So the half mill
(05:28):
that Penel's County voters authorized in twenty twenty will expire
in June of twenty twenty five. The question in front
of the voters in this November in Penella's County is
an all or nothing proposition. We keeping the status quo
is not an option. We have to ask the voters
(05:50):
what will they let us do for the next four years.
So if the voters authorize but one full mill, then
all of those things that I talked about earlier, eleven
thousand dollars per teacher, eighteen million for art, music, technology
and reading, all of that comes to pass. If, however,
referendum fails in November, all of that funding goes away.
(06:13):
We cease to collect referendum dollars as of June thirtieth,
twenty twenty five. That means that there's a very large
hole in the school district's budget the supplemental pay that
teachers get. There is not another funding source for that.
The art and music education. The referendum funds are our
(06:34):
primary source of arts funding. There is of course some
funding that comes for reading programs from the state government
and federal government, but it's going to mean a very
drastic difference in the experience that students have in Pendellas
County schools if for some reason this reference does not pass.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So there would likely be an impact on them budget
and how does that affect the district's competitiveness as far
as teacher salaries.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So, yes, the impact on the budget would be profound,
and to be perfectly honest, there just is not a
revenue source capable of plugging that hole. It's too big.
The way that that impacts our ability to hire is
also profound. One of the things I learned in this
(07:29):
morning's meeting is that we at the moment do not
have a single opening for art, music any level of
arts teacher. Hillsborough County currently has five openings unfulfilled. Some
of our surrounding districts that don't have benefit of this
kind of local taxation, they kids go the entire year
(07:51):
without a permanent teacher. They get long term substitute after
long term substitute after long term substitute. That doesn't provide
any kind of continent in the classroom, and it doesn't
provide the kind of instruction that we want to provide
to our kids in Penellas County schools. And so much
of the way that the half mill made us competitive
(08:13):
twenty years ago, the full mill will make us competitive
in moving into the future and with teacher shortages and frankly,
the difficulty of hiring bus drivers, nurses, security professionals, classroom aids,
those kinds of things. This money is going to keep
(08:35):
Panelas County on a competitive basis with our neighboring and
surrounding districts and enable us to put the best and
the brightest to work for our kids.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I don't know how much, if any organized opposition there's
been to the referendum in Panella's County. Do you hear
the argument about this not being the time to enact
anything that involved higher taxes, particularly with inflation that's been
going on for the last couple of years. And if
(09:05):
you do, how do you respond to it?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I really don't hear that argument when I'm out in
the general public. We have a candidate for school board
that has expressed tremendous support for everything the referendum does,
but somehow wants it to magically happen without taxation. But
the way that I respond to that is that investing
(09:31):
in our kids and our education offers the best return
on investment for any community to its quality of life,
and frankly, even for fiscal responsibility in the future. I mean,
if you give kids a good education and a solid upbringing,
then you don't have to spend money on social services,
you don't have to worry about the correctional system, you
(09:53):
don't have to fund law enforcement to the same levels.
The roa on investment and education is something that pretty
much everybody in Penella's County understands. You know, we have
support from the Chambers of Commerce, we have support from
the Penela's Economic Development Council, the realtors, you know, all
of the organizations that you would expect like PTA and
(10:15):
you know, the arts organizations and that kind of thing.
But our voters have long understood that an investment in
our children makes sense and that's why our referendum passed
last time around with seventy nine percent support. We've proven
ourselves to be trustworthy, good stewards of the money. The
return on investment is tangible and easy for people to see,
(10:41):
and you know, with luck and hop we hope to
enjoy the continued support for our referendum here in Penel's county.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Beth Rawlins is Chair of Citizens for Panela Schools. Thank
you very much for joining us on beyond the News
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. Several Tampa Bay
area school districts have referendums on the ballot involving school funding.
Those include Hillsboro, Manatee, Sarasota, Hernando, and Penellas County. In Penellas,
there's a vote on renewing a local property tax for
schools and bringing it from a half mill to one meal,
or from fifty to one hundred dollars for each one
(00:22):
hundred thousand and assessed property value. Beth Rawlins is Chair
of Citizens for Panella Schools, speaking in support of the
referendum and joins us on Beyond the News. Beth Rawlins welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
All right, Well, now, this is a property tax that
has been in place for some years, and you want
to keep the tax in place, and if I understand correctly,
double it. And why do you think that Panellis needs
to raise that additional revenue and what are the district's
plans for that additional money.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, this referendum funding has been in place for twenty years.
We've enjoyed the support of the voters every four years
since its inception in two thousand and four. So this
is the sixth time that this is going before Panella's
county voters. In the event that the referendum dollars have
passed this time around, every one of our classroom teachers
(01:14):
will receive an eleven thousand dollars stipend on their salary
per year. We will also be able to raise a
little over eighteen million dollars for the areas in which
our funding is spent, which is art, music, technology and
reading programs. It allows for that small group instruction that
(01:35):
we know is so important to teaching kids to read.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Now many, as we mentioned, several counties in the Tampa
Bay area are in the process of voting on referendums
involving school taxes, and there's a certain amount of keeping
up with the Joneses here. It seems as counties compare
to each other. How does Panelas compare to neighboring districts
and the way it taxes for schools.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wellela actually is lagging behind our neighboring districts in the
way that it taxes for schools. All of our neighboring
districts have impact fees that go to support their school system.
Penelas does not all of our surrounding districts have sales
taxes that support their schools. Penellas County does not, and
all of our surrounding districts, with the exception of Hillsboro
(02:22):
which has their one mill on the ballot this November,
all of our surrounding districts have one mill property tax
that supports their schools. Penelas is a half mill. So
in two thousand and four when we put this into place,
a half mill was enough to keep us competitive in
hiring and retaining the best teachers. But now we need
(02:43):
to step up our game and we need to come
level to surrounding counties and we would like the full
mill of funding.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Is this money available to charter schools as well as
the ones operated by the district.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
By state law, we share our money with charter schools
on a per pupil allocation basis. The difference between us
in Panellas County and some other counties in the state
is that Penellus County's charter schools are all chartered through
the district and are all We do not have any
(03:18):
for profit or religious charter schools in Penellas County. They
all have a more of a focus on a different
kind of education, similar to a magnet school.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
How do you hold spending accountable with this particular property tax?
What's the mechanism?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, ironically, I was just in a meeting this morning.
We had a meeting at nine o'clock of our Independent
Citizens Oversight Committee, and so all financial dealings with the
referendum go through a quarterly analysis by an independent citizens group.
They are made up of representatives of the League of
(03:57):
Women Voters, the County Council of PTA, the Education Foundation,
the realtor organization coke Webs, which is an organization that
seeks to narrow the achievement gap arts for a complete education,
and the Penelas County Economic Development Council. So representatives from
(04:17):
all of those organizations get together and look at every
single dollar quarterly and have for the last twenty years.
They produce a report annually that provides transparency to the
public on how this money is spent. You can go
to PCSB dot org slash referendum and see twenty years
(04:39):
worth of reports on that. And again just this morning
the Oversight Committee met and fulfilled its duty in scrutinizing
every penny. And we do it all the time. So
we have a lot of accountability and transparency and Penelas County.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Now, what happens if the referend doesn't pass. Does the
current half mill stay in place or something else?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, the way, the way the legislature has structured this
is that the voters can go to the polls and
authorize taxation for the next four years. We have to
do it in four year increments. We can't do it
any longer. We have to come back and ask, and
we have to ask for what are we going to
collect for the next four years. So the half mill
(05:28):
that Penel's County voters authorized in twenty twenty will expire
in June of twenty twenty five. The question in front
of the voters in this November in Penella's County is
an all or nothing proposition. We keeping the status quo
is not an option. We have to ask the voters
(05:50):
what will they let us do for the next four years.
So if the voters authorize but one full mill, then
all of those things that I talked about earlier, eleven
thousand dollars per teacher, eighteen million for art, music, technology
and reading, all of that comes to pass. If, however,
referendum fails in November, all of that funding goes away.
(06:13):
We cease to collect referendum dollars as of June thirtieth,
twenty twenty five. That means that there's a very large
hole in the school district's budget the supplemental pay that
teachers get. There is not another funding source for that.
The art and music education. The referendum funds are our
(06:34):
primary source of arts funding. There is of course some
funding that comes for reading programs from the state government
and federal government, but it's going to mean a very
drastic difference in the experience that students have in Pendellas
County schools if for some reason this reference does not pass.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So there would likely be an impact on them budget
and how does that affect the district's competitiveness as far
as teacher salaries.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So, yes, the impact on the budget would be profound,
and to be perfectly honest, there just is not a
revenue source capable of plugging that hole. It's too big.
The way that that impacts our ability to hire is
also profound. One of the things I learned in this
(07:29):
morning's meeting is that we at the moment do not
have a single opening for art, music any level of
arts teacher. Hillsborough County currently has five openings unfulfilled. Some
of our surrounding districts that don't have benefit of this
kind of local taxation, they kids go the entire year
(07:51):
without a permanent teacher. They get long term substitute after
long term substitute after long term substitute. That doesn't provide
any kind of continent in the classroom, and it doesn't
provide the kind of instruction that we want to provide
to our kids in Penellas County schools. And so much
of the way that the half mill made us competitive
(08:13):
twenty years ago, the full mill will make us competitive
in moving into the future and with teacher shortages and frankly,
the difficulty of hiring bus drivers, nurses, security professionals, classroom aids,
those kinds of things. This money is going to keep
(08:35):
Panelas County on a competitive basis with our neighboring and
surrounding districts and enable us to put the best and
the brightest to work for our kids.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I don't know how much, if any organized opposition there's
been to the referendum in Panella's County. Do you hear
the argument about this not being the time to enact
anything that involved higher taxes, particularly with inflation that's been
going on for the last couple of years. And if
(09:05):
you do, how do you respond to it?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I really don't hear that argument when I'm out in
the general public. We have a candidate for school board
that has expressed tremendous support for everything the referendum does,
but somehow wants it to magically happen without taxation. But
the way that I respond to that is that investing
(09:31):
in our kids and our education offers the best return
on investment for any community to its quality of life,
and frankly, even for fiscal responsibility in the future. I mean,
if you give kids a good education and a solid upbringing,
then you don't have to spend money on social services,
you don't have to worry about the correctional system, you
(09:53):
don't have to fund law enforcement to the same levels.
The roa on investment and education is something that pretty
much everybody in Penella's County understands. You know, we have
support from the Chambers of Commerce, we have support from
the Penela's Economic Development Council, the realtors, you know, all
of the organizations that you would expect like PTA and
(10:15):
you know, the arts organizations and that kind of thing.
But our voters have long understood that an investment in
our children makes sense and that's why our referendum passed
last time around with seventy nine percent support. We've proven
ourselves to be trustworthy, good stewards of the money. The
return on investment is tangible and easy for people to see,
(10:41):
and you know, with luck and hop we hope to
enjoy the continued support for our referendum here in Penel's county.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Beth Rawlins is Chair of Citizens for Panela Schools. Thank
you very much for joining us on beyond the News
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