Board members voice support for tax increase

The School Board of Manatee County was nearly unanimous in the decision to ask Manatee County residents for more tax money.

Board members discussed putting a millage rate increase on a future ballot during the board’s Tuesday afternoon work session. Board chairman Charlie Kennedy and members Karen Carpenter, Gina Messenger and Dave Miner all said they were in support of asking voters to raise the tax rate by one mill or one-half mill in order to bring in more revenue. Board vice-chair John Colon was the only official expressing serious reservations.

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

Miner advocated for holding a special election on the millage increase, and he said the board needed to take responsibility for a potential looming fiscal crisis.

“We have a habit, I have a habit of blaming Tallahassee, blaming the federal government, those who came before us,” Miner said. “But we can’t just blame. We have to act.”

Other board members said they wanted to wait until the November 2018 general election in order to avoid the cost of a special election.

Messenger said she supported an increase in the millage, but she wanted to make sure the money went where the community wanted it. The other board members agreed, with teacher pay being the common denominator.

Carpenter, who is resigning her seat at the end of May, said she supported a millage increase, but she urged board members to tread carefully. She pointed to the district’s successful campaign to extend the half-cent sales tax as an example of how to communicate a need to the public and persuade them to support the district.

“We need to be able to make a very active case,” Carpenter said.

Colon said he would support a half-mill increase, but he wanted to see buy-in from the business community before he would support any campaign to get public support.

“I am very hesitant about this at this point, and I would like to see some polling, the head count for next year, and there are a lot of other things we have to take a look at before asking for this money,” Colon said.

Kennedy said the discussion would continue, and now that board members have a clear understanding of each others’ position, they can move forward with the issue at a future board meeting.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Board members voice support for tax increase."