Manatee County School Board prioritizes half-cent sales tax

After discussion, the Manatee County School Board voted to approve Superintendent Diana Greene’s recommendation for its impact fee implementation with the “proviso” moving forward.

In the board’s approval of re-instating impact fees in November 2015, the schedule of re-implementation would be a stair-step system, Greene said, starting with a 50% increase from what developers paid in 2009 and increasing by 25% each subsequent year until it reached 100%.

The approval included a caveat that allowed the impact fee for educational facilities would revert to 50% of the amount in the schedule if the voters would ultimately approve the 2017 renewal of the half-cent sales tax by Manatee County voters. The renewal could be on the ballot in November or put to a vote in a referendum. 

The approval of both the recommendation and the caveat were brought back to discussion during the board’s Tuesday, April 26 meeting. Board member Dave “Watchdog” Miner recommended removing the caveat.

Miner said the proviso would negatively affect voters and would kill the approval of the half-cent sales. The school district needs both full-scale impact fees and the sales tax to pay for all its needs, he said.

“Voters will say, even though (the board) know about these needs, they’re going to give that money to developers,” he said.

Greene gave the board a slide presentation of a list of projects from each budget year since 2009, when impact fees were put on a moratorium.

For each year, she highlighted the projects which could have been paid by impact fees — and the list was in the minority. Only five projects since 2009 would have been funded from the fees if they had been in place. Impact fees can only pay for projects that are accommodating new growth from development.

Greene also listed future projects which impact fees could build — which include the new high school, a new elementary school and a new middle school. She told the board that even at 50% of impact fee assessment, future impact fees could pay for the addition at William H. Bashaw Elementary, which is ongoing, and at Gene Witt Elementary, scheduled for 2019, as well as pay for the total cost of the property for the new high school. After totally covering those costs, there would still be enough to also contribute to the other projects, she said. However, the impact fees alone — if the sales tax failed to be renewed by voters — would not be enough for anything else.

“Without sales tax, there will be no new elementary school, middle school or high school,” she said.

All five board members agreed procuring approval for the sales tax was crucial for the district.

“That half-cent sales tax is flexible money,” Chairwoman Karen Carpenter said, adding that a percentage of it comes out of tourist dollars, not local tax payers.

The board denied Miner’s recommendation to remove the proviso in a 4-to-1 vote and approved going with Greene’s recommendation in a 5-to-0 vote.

“We send a message that we're united on this, whichever way we go,” said board member Charlie Kennedy. “This half-cent renewal is crucial to the district.”

The school district is scheduled for a special meeting with Manatee County government Tuesday, May 3. Manatee County is considering instating its half-cent sales tax.

“Our strongest industry is the building industry – we’re dependent on them,” Carpenter said. “We have to acknowledge that.”