Planned for November, the measure asks voters to approve a tax increase to raise teachers' salaries.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published June 23, 2004
LARGO - The Pinellas School Board has revived its plans for a November tax referendum, a change in course prompted by new budget concerns and rising discontent among teachers who say they are underpaid.
Once on, then off, now on again, the district's referendum plans went further than ever Tuesday as a majority of the board informally approved ballot language.
The measure would ask voters to approve an increase of 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, or a half mil.
For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the increase would come to $62.50 a year and take effect in 2005.
The extra money would generate about $25-million annually for four years. It primarily would be used to bring teacher salaries closer to the national average of about $46,000. The average teacher salary in Pinellas hovers around $40,000.
Pinellas teachers recently voted down their contract for the first time in 12 years. Many were upset by raises that will come to less than 2 percent for the coming school year, coupled with steep increases in insurance premiums.
The board will take a formal vote on the measure at a July 27 public hearing. Six of the seven board members said they favored the referendum. Their level of enthusiasm, however, ranged from ardent to lukewarm.
Some board members said they were concerned that the tax would expire after four years, requiring reauthorization by voters.
If voters decided not to approve it, the district suddenly would find itself having to cut $40-million, said Lansing Johansen, the district's chief business officer. At that point, he said of the likely cuts, "it's amputation, not just cosmetic surgery."
The lone opponent is Nancy Bostock, who said the referendum idea has not sprung from grass-roots concern and appears to be driven by the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, the union representing the county's 8,000 public school teachers.
Bostock also objected to the ballot language, which says the new money could be used to preserve reading programs, music and art classes and provide updated textbooks - all in addition to increasing teacher salaries. The nonsalary items are designed to broaden support for the measure and likely wouldn't be in danger of being cut without the referendum, Bostock said.
Board member Mary Russell raised similar concerns, but emerged from Tuesday's meeting saying she could "live with" the ballot language.
Other board members disagreed with Bostock, saying the district's budget picture is dire, and that Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature have failed to provide enough money to meet expenses. Besides a referendum, there is no other way to keep the district operating at a level taxpayers expect, they said.
Several cited a proposed constitutional amendment that would double Florida' homestead exemption on property to $50,000. District officials estimate the amendment, if passed, would pull an additional 45,000 properties off the Pinellas tax roll and cut annual school revenues by about $48-million.
Local governments would have to respond by raising tax rates and putting a greater burden on residents with more expensive property, said board chairman Jane Gallucci. Supporters of the amendment are said to be about 190,000 signatures short of the 488,722 needed to get it on the November ballot.
"It's clear in my mind that without the referendum everything will be on the table," board member Linda Lerner said, referring to art, music and PE programs that might have to be cut. "This is what our citizens want and it aligns with what we want."
She added that the district would be accountable to an independent citizen panel that would oversee how the new tax money is spent.
The referendum would give residents a seat at the table as the board tries to work its way through the district's financial problems, Gallucci said. "Let them come out and vote and let them speak," she said.
The board began to seriously discuss the referendum in January after a poll by the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association found significant support for a tax.
Board members voted in February to proceed but backed off in March, citing concerns that they were moving too fast. A week later, they rekindled the idea after members of the teachers association complained.
Still, the board moved slowly. But the idea regained momentum a month ago after teachers narrowly voted down their contract for the 2004-05 school year.
