School tax referendum approved

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday agreed to let voters decide in November whether to extend a special property tax levy to help pay for local schools.

The School Board in July called for holding a referendum to continue collecting the special property tax levy that raises money for "critical" operating budget needs during a time of ongoing state funding cutbacks.

The County Commission on Tuesday agreed to put it on the Nov. 2 ballot.

"I think the voters have the right to make a choice," Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson said.

The school district contends that keeping the special property tax would help pay for education needs such as teachers, arts programs and physical education.

If approved by voters, the tax – 25 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value – would continue until 2015 instead of expiring at the end of the new school year that started Tuesday.

"This is continued funding to stay the course," said Joe Moore, school district chief operating officer.

The School Board is able to approve the special property tax levy on its own, but only through the end of the new school year. State law requires a referendum to keep it in place longer.

The special levy already is included in the school district's proposed property tax rate of $8.15 per $1,000 of taxable value, up from the current $7.98 per $1,000 rate. The new tax rate would cost the owner of a home with a taxable value of $225,000 about $1,800 a year in school taxes.

Opponents, including local Realtors and the anti-tax group Palm Beach County Taxpayers Action Board, have argued that the School Board and local governments should do more to cut costs during the slumping economy, not look for more revenue from taxpayers.

County commissioners said it wasn't up to them to determine the merits of the special property levy, just to decide whether the School Board's request met requirements laid out by state law to be on the ballot.

"We are just a pass through," Aaronson said.

The commission unanimously passed the referendum measure, but Commissioner Priscilla Taylor told school officials they should do more to cut costs.

"We want quality education [but] we need to look and see what we can do to maintain our budgets," Taylor said.