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Schools

Jan. 29 school tax vote possible

Backers say primary ballot is a better spot than November.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2007

Supporters of a special Pinellas school tax urged the district Tuesday to use the Jan. 29 ballot for a referendum on whether the tax should be renewed.

Approved by voters in the 2004 general election, the tax of 50 cents on every $1,000 of assessed property value expires after the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Eighty percent of the proceeds go to enhance teacher salaries; the rest is used to improve classroom technology and beef up art, music and reading programs.

Beth Rawlins, a political consultant and chairman of Citizens for Pinellas Schools, asked superintendent Clayton Wilcox in a letter to include the topic on the Oct. 16 and Oct. 30 School Board agendas. She also asked that the board consider placing the measure on the January ballot with the presidential preference primary.

The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association supports the idea, said Jade Moore, executive director of the union.

Moore and Rawlins said they favored the January ballot because it looks to be less crowded than the November 2008 general election ballot.

The January ballot got even smaller this week when a Tallahassee judge threw out language that asked voters to consider a change in the way homeowners' taxes are calculated. He said it was misleading. State officials are considering an appeal or a rewrite of the language.

Another factor, said Moore, is that January will be the last election for touch screen voting machines, which encourage voters to go to the end of a ballot. The November 2008 election likely will have a different voting system and a number of ballot questions in addition to the presidential candidates, Moore said.

The Pinellas referendum, he noted, would be at or near the end of the ballot. "November could be a mess," Moore said.

The letter by Rawlins comes after an August poll of 400 likely voters that showed strong support for the special Pinellas tax.

Nearly 60 percent of those polled said their property taxes were too high, but 66 percent who were read the potential ballot language said they favored renewing the special tax for another four years.

The most telling number, according to Rawlins: 83 percent agreed it was important to have a source of local education funding the state couldn't touch.

"This is our money, helping our kids in our classrooms," she said. "And that really sets it aside from the property tax issue as a whole and makes it a different equation for most people."

The Pinellas tax generates an average of about $36-million a year and last year helped bring the average teacher salary to $46,000 last year - up from about $40,000 in 2004.

Last year, the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 (with a $25,000 homestead exemption) paid $1,349 in regular school taxes plus $87.50 for the special tax.

[Last modified September 26, 2007, 00:52:23]