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Under the proposed tax rate, a homeowner's school taxes will dip if the home's assessed value stays the same.
By KENT FISCHER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2002
LAND O'LAKES -- The Pasco County School Board is scheduled to vote on the 2002-03 budget tonight, and on the tax rate to fund it.
Residents will have a chance to address the board at a public hearing before the vote. The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The proposed $582.8-million budget is growing by about 8 percent over last year, roughly $36-million. More than $12-million of that increase will help cover the estimated 2,600 new students expected to enroll this academic year.
Another $7-million is needed to keep elementary class sizes down and to maintain current teacher-student ratios in the face of surging enrollments, school officials have said.
Although the budget is increasing, taxpayers should not see the school portion of their tax bills increase much, if at all.
This year's proposed millage rate is 8.939, which is 0.086 mills less than was levied last year. Most of the proposed rate -- 6.197 mills -- was set by the Legislature and voters. The School Board only has authority over the rest, 2.742 mills.
A mill is $1 in tax per $1,000 of assessed property value. Last year, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 (with a homestead exemption) would have paid $676.88 in school taxes.
Under the proposal, that same owner would pay $670.43 in school taxes this year, providing the home's assessed value did not increase.
Tonight's public hearing will be held at the School Board meeting room, 7227 Land O'Lakes Blvd.
-- Kent Fischer covers education in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. His e-mail address is kfischer@sptimes.com.
Slackers have received a 24-hour reprieve from the Pasco County School District.
Not wanting to give parents bad news on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, teachers will delay sending home student progress reports by one day.
The reports, the first of the new school year, were to be sent home with students on Wednesday. Instead, they'll be released Thursday, Superintendent John Long said.
"A number of teachers have expressed concern that the 11th would be the wrong day to send home a progress report, especially if it's a negative one," Long said. "I agree, and it's easy enough to fix. We'll send them home on the 12th."