When it was all over, one attendee plaintively asked, “well, what about next year? And the year after that? And so on ….”

The six St. Johns County School Board Commissioners weathered 90 minutes that included a lengthy PowerPoint presentation followed by a dozen or so dissenters. And then, with barely a nod to the mood in the room, the six officials unanimously approved the county’s proposed new school budget – marking the first of four years of an additional 1-mil school tax hike voters approved, and for which some are now having buyer’s remorse.

Background

In last November’s elections, St. Johns County added a ballot initiative asking for a 1-mil increase in property taxes to boost funding for the county’s schools, recognized as among the best in Florida. Voters agreed, and the measure passed. Then this month, homeowners began receiving their annual “TRIM” notices (the name “TRIM” is an acronym for the “Truth in Millage” Act), and many choked at their new and much higher property tax liability.

The Pushback

Marsh Creek Resident Ed Kierce won applause, as did others voicing similar views, when he said “I don’t mind paying my share”, but complained of the “burden on our lifestyles” by the higher than expected property tax hike. Kierce’s new home insurance premium, he said, has jumped to $9000. On top of that, he went on, Social Security’s cost-of-living increase is being eaten up by high Medicare premiums. “A four-year increase at 1-mil is not sustainable. You will drive people from the county” and he urged the commissioners to find other sources of revenue.

Vivien: “I’m here for the seniors. We should be exempt. We don’t have kids in school, we’re on a fixed budget and all our costs are up. We paid our dues but we won’t be able to stay in our homes”.

Ray, a recent arrival to SJC: “Our taxes are two times higher than on our home in Indiana. We’ve had to downsize and now face a $500 increase. It is a lot for seniors on a fixed income. Seniors should get a discount. We’ve paid our share”.

Tim: “My kids are grown, we’re seniors and our tax bill went up 10%. If you keep raising taxes, you will lose citizens”.

Ann: “The market value of my house dropped but my taxes went up. We are being hit so hard by inflation, insurance, groceries, and property taxes. It’s disturbing”.

Leanne: “The school board effectively cornered taxpayers into this (by the ballot initiative). We have had a population increase in St. Johns County”, and therefore, with a bigger tax base “we should be paying less. Now people will have to go without.”

Robert Morris: “There has been tremendous growth in apartments throughout the county but renters do not pay property taxes and are using our school facilities. The commercial property tax rate is not high enough. Developers need to contribute”.

Lewis: “I’m all for helping out, but 10% is too high. We are paying more in Florida than we did in New Jersey and it pisses me off”.

Susan: “I’m in my first year of retirement and I’m scared. I have a 49% increase in my school taxes and my home is decreasing in value. I have a part-time job at the Council on Aging and wonder if I going to have to go back and work full-time”.

The Rebuttal

In her budget presentation, the school board’s financial officer noted that St. Johns County beats neighboring county school boards (Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam, Volusia) on efficiency. In the years 2023-2024, she said, St. Johns limited its overhead costs (district expenditures) to 2.68%, and poured the rest, 97.32%, into the schools.  

SJC residents were urged to sign up to a new Teachers Advisory Committee, depicted as a civilian watchdog to monitor the county’s $1.5 billion school budget spending process, including the new injection of $61-million that voters approved last November.

School Board Member Anthony Coleman delivered an apocryphal rejoinder on behalf of the Board. If the budget containing the 1-mil tax increase is not passed, he said, “our system will be crippled and teachers will need to work two and three jobs”.  

Next Step

While the School Board proposes budgets, the county commissioners have final approval over the overall county budget and can, in theory, offset some of the proposed school taxes through reductions elsewhere. But on the table is an up-or-down vote on the new budget containing the proposed school tax increases. The odds of avoiding the higher taxes do not look good.

SJC Commissioner e-mail Addresses

Christian Whitehurst District 1 Commissioner bcc1cwhitehurst@sjcfl.us    

Sarah Arnold District 2 Commissioner  bcc2sarnold@sjcfl.us

Clay Murphy District 3 Commissioner bcc3cmurphy@sjcfl.us

Krista Joseph Commissioner District 4 bcc4kjoseph@sjcfl.us

Ann Taylor Commissioner District 5 bcc5ataylor@sjcfl.us