Board members made it official after many questioned why they did not formally endorse the proposed property tax increase.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published October 13, 2004
LARGO - The questions kept coming like waves on the sand: Why had the Pinellas School Board placed a proposed tax increase on the Nov. 2 ballot while officially remaining neutral on whether it should pass?
"I've had to answer it more than a handful of times," said School Board member Carol Cook. Two PTA members asked her recently why they should stand up for the increase when the School Board would not.
"Valid point," said Cook, who listened again Tuesday while a Clearwater resident addressed the board about the referendum and questioned its leadership.
Cook had heard enough.
Acting on her motion, the board voted 6-1 to formally support a property tax increase of 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value. If approved, it would generate an average of $28-million a year for four years.
Eighty percent of the proceeds would be used to bring teacher salaries closer to the national average. The remaining 20 percent would go to technology, arts, music and reading programs. An independent citizens group would monitor how the money is spent.
Board members thought their position was clear.
Six of them voted in July to place the measure on the ballot. Six of them have written personal checks to a citizen campaign supporting the measure. Most of them have appeared before groups to speak in favor of it. One of them, Mary Russell, designed a Web site for the campaign in her spare time.
The board considered taking an official stand on the issue at a recent workshop, but backed away. A majority indicated they didn't want an unnecessary public fight with Nancy Bostock, the only board member opposed to the tax.
"We try not to make a 6-1 vote when we don't have to," Cook said.
Also, she said, a consultant told the board earlier this year that other Florida counties had successfully passed similar tax measures by backing away and letting a citizens group take the lead. The strategy reduces the potential for backlash from political opponents of board members, she said.
Several board members said Tuesday's vote will remove any confusion about their stand.
Their move came near the end of the board's regular meeting, when citizens are invited to Clearwater resident Nicholas Fritsch told the board he supported increasing teacher pay but thought the board should take responsibility and find a way to finance raises without putting the onus on voters.
That led to Cook's motion, which Russell seconded. Other board members chimed in.
"We want a first-class school system and this is an opportunity for the board to speak up," said board member Lee Benjamin.
Bostock reacted, saying the swift change of heart was unbecoming of a board that has agreed to work more systematically.
"If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny," she said, calling the board's actions "a comedy of errors."
Board chairwoman Jane Gallucci said the board should be allowed to change course.
Beth Rawlins, a parent and political consultant working to pass the measure, said Tuesday's vote doesn't change much, but she called it a good step.
"I don't know that the voters were confused about anything," she said. "I think that the School Board members had already devoted themselves fully to the idea."
The board wanted the ability to speak with one voice on the tax, Gallucci said.
"What I was listening to today was a board that really needed to take leadership," she said. "We just needed closure."
