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Why You Should Care?

I'm about a dollar, what the heck is half a cent? The half-cent sales tax referendum episode.

November 13, 2019 • Obi Umunna. Esq. • Season 1 • Episode 2

In this episode of Why You Should Care? We sit down with Emily Bloch. She works as The Florida Times-Union‘s education reporter. It well documented that Duval has the oldest school buildings in the state. And out of all the 67 counties, we are the only county without a dedicated funding source for school maintenance and construction. The Duval School Board with the power given to it by state statute decided to address it by putting a referendum on the ballot that would allow the voters to decide if they wanted a half-cent sales tax. This episode will discuss everything that happened and is still happening with that decision.

Timeline for this episode
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190813/timeline-half-cent-sales-tax-for-duval-schools

State Statue Regulating Sales Tax.
Fla. Stat. 212.055(6) (6) SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY SURTAX.—

(a) The school board in each county may levy, pursuant to resolution conditioned to take effect only upon approval by a majority vote of the electors of the county voting in a referendum, a discretionary sales surtax at a rate that may not exceed 0.5 percent.

(b) The resolution shall include a statement that provides a brief and general description of the school capital outlay projects to be funded by the surtax. The statement shall conform to the requirements of s. 101.161 and shall be placed on the ballot by the governing body of the county.