Manatee school board must show us need for tax hike
The School Board of Manatee County has authorized a special election in pursuit of a 1-mil property tax increase. Before they spend a reported $270,000 for the voting process, and once again expect the taxpayers to rubber-stamp additional funding, some detailed justification would be in order.
At minimum, the school board should produce a verifiable comparative analysis, documenting current school millage rates of similarly populated and similarly valued Florida counties. If such an analysis reflects that Manatee County currently rests below parity with our peer Florida counties, one measure of justification for additional funds will have been established.
A second step would then be to demonstrate exactly how current funding is being prioritized, managed and expended. No more smoke and mirrors, or apples to oranges comparisons will suffice. Once objective justification for additional funding has been provided, the taxpayers will lend their support.
Kelly Case
Bradenton
This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Manatee school board must show us need for tax hike."