Manatee County School Board to discuss increase in millage rate

On Tuesday, the School Board of Manatee County will discuss increasing the millage tax rate for Manatee County residents in an effort to provide the district with more funding.

School board Chairman Charlie Kennedy said the district’s need for additional revenue was made clear to him during the impasse between the district and teachers union.

“The impasse process really crystalized to me that, hey, if we want to be competitive in pay and benefits, we need to do what the other counties around us are doing,” Kennedy said.

A mill is worth $1 per every $1,000 of home value. The current school millage rate in the county is 6.92, and the first $25,000 of the home value is exempt.

In April, chief financial officer Rebecca Roberts told the board that increasing revenue by 1 mill would generate $33 million for the district, and a half-mill increase would produce $16.5 million. She also said the district could be in serious financial trouble if voters do not increase the millage.

“If we did nothing and things continue to grow at the rate they are growing, our fund balance would drop to negative $21 million,” Roberts said. “But we are not going to sit on our laurels. ... We are feverishly working.”

In the fall, the district successfully persuaded voters to approve an extension of a half-cent sales tax by a 59-41 percent margin. The sales tax funds can only be used for capital projects, whereas millage revenue goes toward general operations, including salaries.

The board cannot issue a millage increase on its own; it can only get the issue to the ballot and ask for voters to decide. If it moves forward, a millage vote would likely be on the 2018 general election ballot. Kennedy said he did not want to ask for a special referendum because of the associated costs.

Board member John A. Colon said he wasn’t sold on the need for an increase.

“You need to show me why we need to increase taxes,” Colon said. “Also, remember we’ve increased the impact fees as well. You can’t just keep piling more and more taxers on top of our partners who are the people who live in the county.”

Manatee Education Association President Pat Barber said as funding from the state remains flat, local residents needed to step up and support the county schools. She said she did not know if the district had regained the trust of the public since the district fell deep into debt during former Superintendent Tim McGonegal’s tenure, but the current leaders shouldn’t be lumped in with those of the past.

“This administration and the people on the school board now are not the people who caused the financial collapse of the district,” Barber said.

Board member Gina Messenger said she hadn’t made up her mind on the issue, but she knew community members she spoke with want school employees to have better wages.

“It’s the teachers, custodians, bus drivers, lunch ladies, they would like to see those people paid better, and it would start with that additional millage,” Messenger said.

Although the district has endured a black eye after an employee released every employees’ W-2 tax statment in an email phishing scam in February, and the impasse debate brought up several issues with the district’s payroll system, Kennedy said the district had overall been a good steward of funding in recent years.

In January, state auditors praised the district for the progress that had been made since the 2014 three-year report, when the district received a scathing financial audit filled with 42 findings where the district needed to improve or adjust its practices. The January audit only had nine findings, an achievement external auditor Byron Shinn described as something worth framing.

“I just salivate about what we could do for employee pay,” Kennedy said. “If we had $17 million (a half-mill) we would immediately be competitive with Sarasota. We could pay our lowest-paid employees a living wage. We could really go a long way toward supporting our teachers and staff.”

Sara Cohen, the vice president of the Lakewood Ranch Republican Club, said board members will always talk about increasing teacher salaries in order to get more money, but the real issue is what they do with the money once they get it.

“I think it is a trust issue,” Cohen said. “Just be good stewards of taxpayer money, that’s what we want.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Manatee County School Board to discuss increase in millage rate."