A judge in Hillsborough has ruled that a referendum asking voters to consider raising a property tax to fund teacher costs will go on the ballot on Nov. 5, despite an appeal to a higher court by the Hillsborough County Commission, which voted to delay the vote.
Deadlines to put the tax on the ballot were quickly approaching, but Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Emily Peacock ruled in favor of the school district on Monday morning, effectively ensuring the measure will make it onto the ballot in time for Election Day.
A meeting of the commission has already been scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m., at which further legal steps could be considered.
The school district plans to ask voters for $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Most of the estimated $177 million the four-year tax will raise annually will go toward annual grants of $6,000 for teachers and administrators and $3,000 for support staff. All school employees except Superintendent Van Ayres will receive these grants. Such taxes exist in most of Florida’s largest districts and those bordering Hillsborough.
But last month, the county commission, which is responsible for sending the referendum to the elections office, voted 4-3 to delay it for two years. Republican commissioners Josh Wostal and Ken Hagan argued that residents would struggle with the high costs. Commissioners Donna Cameron Cepeda and Christine Miller voted with them, while the panel’s three Democrats, Harry Cohen, Gwen Myers and Pat Kemp, voted no.
School officials filed suit and Judge Peacock ruled in their favor. Then the board voted to appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeals, a process that automatically halts enforcement of a judge’s order while the higher court decides what to do. But on Monday morning, the judge lifted that stay.
“The de facto denial of public voting rights for two years is a harm that clearly outweighs the interests of the Commission, since any impairment of the Commission’s interests can be reversed,” the order states. “The same cannot be said of the School Board.”
The text of the referendum must be received by the county election office by October 20 to be included on the November 5 ballot.
Times writer Marlene Sokol contributed to this report.
