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Pinellas County voters will decide within a week whether to raise property taxes to help fund public schools. But IIf the referendum is rejected, the tax will be completely abolished.
Since 2004, a portion of homeowners’ taxes have been used to fund public schools.
The 2022-23 school year report said $44 million went to teacher salaries and $11 million went to reading, arts and technology programs.
Beth Rollins of the Pinellas School Citizens Association said these programs played a big role in helping the county earn its first “A” grade from the Florida Department of Education.
“If you’re in Pinellas County, this is the last item on your ballot. And we want people to understand that this is an all-or-nothing vote,” Rollins told WMNF. .
But Rollins said all that could be gone if the referendum fails.
“If this referendum fails, the referendum funds will no longer be collected in June 2025. We will lose teacher scholarships, we will lose arts and music programs, we will lose technology,” Rollins said. said.
Pinellas County Schools says the tax will cost the average homeowner less than $20 a month.
And Rollins said the increase is worth it.
“Education is the biggest return on investment you can get in a community. If you’re going to invest some money into the K-12 education system, you’re saving money on the back end, like social services and law enforcement. ” Rollins said.
Election day is November 5thth.
