Tax Relief Plan To Cost Schools$1.4 Million

SEBRING - Proposed tax relief for property owners could lead to budget woes for school districts if voters approve the doubling of the homestead exemption on Jan. 29.

The tax relief plan also includes a tangible personal property exemption of $25,000 and a 10 percent cap on assessments for non-homestead property.

In dollars for the School Board of Highlands County, it would represent an estimated loss of $1.4 million in 2008 or about 1 percent of the school district's general fund and 1 percent of the capital fund.

"They [Legislature] said they are going to hold us harmless, but I don't see any other revenue stream that they are going to be able to replace it with, so obviously there's going to be an impact to schools." Highlands School District Assistant Superintendent of Business/Finance Mike Averyt said Monday.

"If you try to cut a million dollars ... we're scraping to get the dollars to pay for teacher salaries and benefits and all those programs we have to operate to run this school district," he said, "So it is a significant problem that we are going to have to address if this thing passes."

The estimated loss in upcoming years includes: $2.1 million in 2009, $2.8 million in 2110, $3.5 million in 2011 and 4.3 million in 2012.

"So obviously if they are going to cut our revenue we'd have to cut our budgets," Averyt said. "So it is a concern for us; we are going to have to monitor this very closely."

The Florida Association of District School Superintendents has not yet taken an official position on the property tax proposal, but will be discussing the issue, and whether or not to take a side, in two weeks.

"It's a pretty big hit; it's not a little amount," the Superintendents Association's General Counsel Joy Frank said Monday. "The Legislature has basically said to us ... they know education is a priority and they plan to hold us harmless - that's something we remind them."