Manatee schools tax referendum collection doubles since inception

Manatee County has been growing by leaps and bounds and so has the revenue from the School District of Manatee County's 1-mill property tax referendum.

Voters first approved the property tax referendum in 2017. In the 2018-2019 school year, which is the first year the referendum was implemented, the school district collected just over $37.3 million. 

Since then, the revenue from the millage has doubled to an adopted budget of just over $75.5 million for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Voters will have the opportunity to determine whether the 1-mill property tax referendum will be renewed as it's on the ballot again Nov. 5. 

If renewed, the referendum will continue to support an additional 30 minutes to each school day, salaries for teachers and staff, STEM education, career and technical education and charter schools. 

The School Board of Manatee County has decided to add allocations for athletics, early literacy and school safety and security if the referendum is approved Nov. 5. 

Richard Tatem, a member of the school board, said there are two main reasons for the revenue doubling since 2018-2019 — property values increasing and new homes being built. 

One mill is worth $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, so for a home worth $400,000, one mill would equal $400 per year or $33 a month. 

As of Oct. 21, 28,342 homes have been built in Manatee County since 2018. 

As the referendum revenue has increased due to growth, Tatem said the needs of the district has increased to address the growing enrollment.

Since the 2018-2019 school year, the district's enrollment has increased by more than 7,600 students to a projected enrollment of 56,470 students this school year.

Tatem said the district also is in the process of building five new schools to accommodate growth and alleviate schools that are over capacity.

With more students and schools, Tatem said, comes a need for more teachers, staff, bus drivers, funding to support programs and services and more.

All board members have said the referendum is needed to make salaries, especially for teachers and bus drivers, competitive against surrounding counties.

Since 2018, the school board has continually allocated 51% of the referendum to instructional staff salaries. 

School board member Cindy Spray was not in favor of levying a full mill knowing the projected revenue from the referendum was more than $75.5 million. 

"As I said in the past, I believe we could maintain our current staffing levels and programs while reducing the tax burden on our tax payers by lowering the mill to .5," Spray said. 

When the board was discussing how much to levy, Spray said she offered to compromise to .75 mill, but the other four members of the board all were in favor of levying the full mill. 

Now, it's up to the voters to decide, but Spray said she will continue to advocate for a reduction in the mill in the coming years, and she will serve as a liaison between the board and the Citizens Financial Oversight Committee. The committee was created to ensure the millage funding was spent according to the referendum. 

"We will also have thousands of new homes that are being built out east and on Cortez Road that will (bring) more taxable income for the district, not to mention the complexes that are being built in downtown Bradenton," Spray said. "I will continue to advocate for a reduction and for tighter oversight efforts. I would encourage community members to read the reports and determine if they would like to serve on the (Citizens Financial Oversight Committee) to see for themselves where the funds are being spent."