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Division of Support Operations Sales Tax Referendum "Better Schools... Better Communities!"
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Half-Cent Sales Tax Facts Through December 2010, the District opened or started work on 14 new schools, 26 replacement/modernized schools, numerous classroom additions as well as auditoriums, stadiums, Career Academies, Pre-K centers, covered walkways, and computer connectivity improvements. Without the half-cent sales tax, few of these projects and improvements would have been funded and the District would have been forced to take drastic measures, including: instituting double (year-round) sessions due to overcrowding; putting students in over-utilized/deteriorating classrooms; reducing and/or eliminating after-school programs/extracurricular activities; teaching with inadequate and/or outdated classroom computer technology; stopping the current school concurrency program. The sales tax was in effect for a total of 6 years; it started in January 2005 and raised approximately $650 million during its 6 year term that ended in December 2010. The tax only applied to the first $5,000 of currently taxed items, based on Florida Law. As much as 20% of the sales tax was paid by visitors/tourists. To keep track of tax dollars utilized for school construction, an Independent Sales Surtax Oversight Committee was established to ensure the highest degree of financial accountability and project management. The sales tax revenue was used to fund the majority of specific projects as detailed in the Palm Beach County School District’s Annually updated Five Year Plan & Capital Budget.
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