LIVE: Full Election Results

Pasco County voters have voted yes on the school board referendum. The final vote total was 54,523 votes to pass the referendum and 38,523 votes to reject it, a 16,000 vote difference.

The decision will give the Pasco school board a financial boost through an increase in property taxes.

Residents were asked to pay a one-mill tax, equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Homeowners with houses valued at around $150,000 will now pay $125 annually. The tax itself will last four years.

“We know that the voters had a tough decision to make today," said Pasco County superintendent Kurt Browning. "It’s costing more to put gas in their car; it’s costing more to fill up their grocery cart; it’s costing more to do everything. And I think the voter today – with the vote totals we saw today, that’s a huge resounding endorsement I think of Pasco County Schools and our community’s belief in their teachers.”

Teacher pay in Florida is among the lowest in the nation. Pasco, in particular, trails multiple counties in terms of financial incentives, ranking below Hillsborough and Pinellas, among others. Better wages might even help the bus driver shortage that has plagued Pasco this school season.

"We are losing a lot of people. We are having trouble recruiting people," school district spokesperson Steve Hegarty told ABC Action News in July. "And that solution is the same solution that other districts have come up with over the last several years."