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District may soon use frozen sales tax dollars

A new school could be funded after more than $10-million has been held in limbo due to an oversight.

By TOM MARSHALL
Published June 14, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - A costly oversight by Hernando County school officials may soon be corrected, giving the district access to more than $40-million in new construction funds.

Proceeds from a half-cent sales tax increase have been banked in limbo since district officials failed to advertise the March 2004 vote in a local newspaper. Though the district hasn't been able to touch a penny, the tax has already raised more than $10-million, said finance director Deborah Bruggink.

But a bill giving the district permission to use the funds was approved this spring by both the state House of Representatives and the Senate, and is now awaiting Gov. Jeb Bush's signature.

Even if he doesn't sign the bill, which was sponsored by Rep. David Russell, R-Brooksville, it will automatically become law Tuesday, district and legislative officials said.

The district's intention to spend the tax money must also be approved by a circuit court judge, which School Board attorney J. Paul Carland described as a formality after the unanimous votes in the House and Senate.

With that permission in hand, Bruggink said, the board can issue up to $45-million in bonds this summer against expected revenues from the tax. The district plans to use the money to build a new school off U.S. 19 in Spring Hill between Centralia and Hexam roads.

Issuing bonds allows the district to immediately benefit from the estimated $65-million the sales tax will generate by 2014, rather than wait for the funds to accrue at the rate of about $6-million annually, Bruggink said.

Officials had promoted the sales tax as an essential antidote to school overcrowding, with district growth rates exceeding 1,000 students per year.

But the task of taking out a legal notice announcing the referendum in local newspapers somehow slipped through the cracks at the district's finance department, former board attorney Karen Gaffney said in January.

Superintendent Wendy Tellone took full responsibility for the error.

Since then, the district has continued an aggressive construction and renovation program using certificates of participation, a state borrowing program, and says the sales tax glitch has not caused any construction delays.

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.

[Last modified June 14, 2006, 00:15:12]