Half-cent sales tax vote approaches

Santa Rosa County School District Assistant Superintendant Joey Harrell spoke Feb. 6 in support of a half-cent sales tax voters can support or reject on the March 28 special election ballot. [AARON LITTLE | Press Gazette]

MILTON — Santa Rosa County voters on March 28 will have the opportunity to decide on continuing a half-cent sales tax for the Santa Rosa County School District.

District authorities plan to use the projected annual $7 million tax to build new schools to meet the county’s growing needs.

The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners will vote Thursday on a resolution to support the tax.

The resolution cites these reasons:

  • Santa Rosa County is now the sixth fastest growing county in the state.
  • The student population has averaged 473 additional students annually over the past three years, with 750 additional students projected for the 2017‐18 school term, the highest number during the past eight years.
  • The Public Education Capital Outlay New Construction dollars from the state has ceased to exist, thus placing even more responsibility on the local school board to raise revenue.

The March 28 special election ballot says the half-cent sales tax, which the county would levy Jan. 2019 for 10 years, will fund “construction of new school district facilities, renovations, and additions to existing school district facilities, land acquisition, and improvements, and the upgrading and equipping of school district facilities for technology.”

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Half-cent sales tax vote approaches