St. Johns County voters are being asked to decide two referenda during this election cycle that, if passed, would help fund critical needs of the school district.
One is a renewal of a half-cent sales surtax to be used for construction, reconstruction and improvements to school facilities. The other is a one-mill increase in residential property taxes that would be used for increasing teacher pay and other purposes.
In anticipation of the vote, the St. Johns County School District has been conducting a series of town hall meetings to make the case for passage.
Introducing the topic at the Tuesday, Oct. 15, meeting, School Superintendent Tim Forson said the funds were needed “to protect and determine a stable future for St. Johns County schools.”
“In order to do that, we’ve got to make some commitments to ensure that we have outstanding teachers in front of children, that we have the bus drivers that we need to operate our systems, the food services workers, the paraprofessionals, the school leaders — all of those individuals,” he said. “We need to make sure that when it’s time to build a school that we have assets and the ability and the capacity to do that.”
St. Johns County Schools is the envy of many of Florida’s 67 districts. It has received an A grade every year since grading began in 2004 — one of only two districts to do so — and maintains a graduation rate of 94%.
But it faces challenges, partially as the result of a population boom that isn’t expected to subside anytime soon.
Between 2005 and 2023, the county’s population has gone from about 160,000 to about 320,000. With that comes an increase in enrollment, up 123% in that time. Currently at 52,000 students, that number is projected to increase by 13,000 in the next nine years.
At the same time, costs associated with accommodating that surge have risen.
Meanwhile, on the funding side, the state has reduced the amount of tax revenue received by the district. In the last decade, the required local effort — that portion of ad valorem taxes levied on assessed property values according to a formula set by the state — has been reduced from 5 to 3 mills.
This reduction, which has occurred incrementally each year, has prompted other districts — currently 27 of them — to levy additional millage to compensate.
While it is true that increased property values in recent years would generate more revenue, St. Johns County Schools does not fully benefit. All tax revenue goes to the state, which redistributes it so that students in poorer districts will not necessarily suffer due to a shortage in funding relative to wealthier districts, such as St. Johns.
There is an impact, but this dispersal, which makes St. Johns something of a “donor county,” reduces any windfall.
A rising tide may lift all boats, but a widely spread tide lifts them by much less.
Half-cent sales tax
The first referendum concerns a 10-year renewal of the half-cent sales surtax, which was initially approved by voters in 2015, but which will sunset next year.
This tax has generated an average of $37 million annually. It is levied on taxable sales, and so affects all consumers, not just property owners. However, that also means 38% of it is paid by visitors.
Consumers who are used to paying the tax won’t see any increase, with one possible exception. In this inflationary period, costs have increased, so the accompanying tax will reflect that. Still, the impact on consumers should be negligible.
Funds raised through this tax would be restricted for use in the district’s capital outlay budget. While not the sole source of revenue for these expenses, the surtax has helped build new schools and repair existing ones over the past decade. It has also paid for enhanced security measures.
Since 2015, the district has made 13 roof replacements, purchased 12,000 computers and more than 1,400 LED panels with surtax revenue.
The district currently educates 13,000 students in 600 portables to avoid overcrowding. Otherwise, an additional 16 elementary schools would have to be constructed to accommodate those students, but school construction costs have risen dramatically. When Pine Island Academy, a K-8 school located south of Nocatee, was built in 2021, the cost was $38 million. The district opened two new schools this year, Trout Creek Academy and Lakeside Academy — both also K-8 — and the cost was $62 million apiece.
Currently, the district pays $49 million a year on mortgages.
One mill increase
The second referendum would help recruit and retain teachers and support staff, invest in school safety (such as school resource officers and nurses) and enhance programs in science, technology, art, music, athletics and more.
The starting salaries for teachers in St. Johns County schools, according to Chief of Staff Michael Degutis, who also spoke at the meeting, is $48,642.
The average teacher’s salary is lower than that of three bordering districts, which raises concerns that instructional staff could seek out jobs elsewhere.
The average teacher salary in Flagler County is $58,369. In Duval, it’s $55,282. In Putnam, it’s $55,000. In St. Johns, it’s $53,484.
That said, this is an average, so a district weighted with more senior staff would skew the figure upward. According to Degutis, about half the teachers in St. Johns County have been with the district no longer than five years.
At the same time, this mill would also help increase pay for bus drivers, food service workers, custodians, paraprofessionals, etc. Currently, the district is short by about 50 to 55 bus drivers, which has ramifications for transportation of students.
If passed, the increase would be restricted to four years by state statute.
One mill equals one dollar for every $1,000 of assessed property value, minus the $25,000 homestead exemption.
Using September figures, the latest available, the median price of a home in St. Johns County is $550,000. However, the average price of a home is less than that: about $360,000.
So, if the referendum passes, the owner of a $360,000 home, after the homestead exemption, would pay $335 more in property taxes for each of the four years that the mill is levied.
The total tax would depend on the millage rate for any one of those fiscal years, but had it been enacted for 2024-25 — where the levy stands at $5.278 for each $1,000 of assessed value — that average homeowner would pay $2,103.
Where the impact would be more greatly felt would be with homeowners on the low end of the earning scale or those on a fixed income. While the percentage would remain constant, and therefore proportional to the — presumably — lower value of the home, that homeowner would feel a pinch to his or her expendable income.
Groceries, gasoline, medical bills, etc., impact those with lower incomes more than those with higher incomes. A gallon of milk costs the same regardless of earnings, but it makes up a greater proportion of income for the low-wage earner. A tax increase would then have to come from a diminished reserve.
As an example, the owner of a $125,000 home, minus the homestead exemption, would pay an additional $100 if the referendum passes. The total tax bill, again using 2024-25 numbers, would be about $628.
For those earning, say, $30,000 and living paycheck to paycheck, the absence of that extra $100 — as little as that sounds to many residents — could prove a burden.
