HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla — A Florida appeals court ruled Monday that the Hillsborough County Schools tax referendum will be on the November general election ballot.
The tax referendum was at the center of a legal battle between the Hillsborough County Commission and the school board.
"They sent a clear message today that this decision will be up to the residents of Hillsborough County," said Superintendent Van Ayres. "Over the next few months, it will now be our responsibility to educate the community on the need for the additional funding and how the money will be spent to ensure every student in our district has the best classroom experience possible."
In April, the school board voted to put a property tax increase on the November ballot. But in a surprise 4-3 vote last month, county commissioners decided instead to push the millage referendum to 2026, frustrating some school board members.
On Aug. 2, a court ordered the County Commission to put the School Board's millage referendum on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot, but the Commission then voted 4-3 to file an expedited appeal to the court's order.
In their Monday decision, the appeals court said the school board had the power to set the date for the election.
"Reading section 1011.73(2) in context with the School Board's constitutional and statutory rights and obligations, it is apparent that the School Board's directive to the County Commissioners necessarily includes the date of the election and that the County Commissioners' duty is to adhere to the date directed by the School Board—a purely ministerial task," the court said.
Read the appeals court decision here:
Hillsborough County Schools... by ABC Action News
According to the district, the millage would mostly fund increased pay for teachers, support staff, assistant principals, and principals to make Hillsborough County Public Schools competitive with surrounding counties. As it stands, the county is currently not up to par with others, making it harder to keep teachers and recruit staff.
Superintendent Ayres said on Monday afternoon he did not take this decision lightly, even going to the school board to ask them to put this on the ballot, but for them, he said it came down to leveling the playing field.
“We have over almost 183,000 students, and my goal is to ensure that we have phenomenal classroom teachers, but I sit here right now, and I’ve got over 400 vacancies that I currently sit with," said Ayres. "We’re working through that, but in the end, it’s the best classroom experience possible for our students in ensuring that every student in Hillsborough County, every student, not majority like I have now, but every student has a highly qualified, fabulous teacher that are in front of our students every day.”
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