Voters to face quarter-mill school levy

Franklin County voters will decide in November whether to approve a 0.25-mill critical needs operating budget levy for the school district for another two years.

By a 3-2 vote at its Aug. 19 special meeting, with school board members Jimmy Gander and George Thompson opposed, the school board okayed placing the two-year levy on the Nov. 2 ballot.

If approved by a majority vote of voters, the critical needs levy would be in effect for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years, and would raise about a half-million dollars each year.

The first two years of the levy, 2009-10 and 2010-11 were previously approved by a supermajority vote of the school board, which called for the yes vote of at least four of the five board members. But the Florida Legislature stipulated that any extension of the millage by Florida school boards beyond the initial two years had to go before voters.

The .25-mill levy was complicated by the fact that Property Appraiser Doris Pendleton erred by not including the millage on last year’s tax bills. But that matter has been remedied by an upcoming back assessment of county properties, so the school district will receive the full value of last year’s critical needs millage, which is expected to bring in about $680,000.

When the school board voted a year ago to first levy the .25-mill, school board members stressed that this millage would not constitute an increase in taxes, since the board had balanced the new millage by decreasing the capital outlay millage by an equivalent .25-mills, from 1.25 to 1.0 mills.

But at last month’s meeting, there was disagreement over whether the November levy would meet with favor from county voters.

“I just think it’s too much,” said Thompson, referring to the fact that county taxpayers will have to face in the months ahead both this year’s scheduled .25-mill assessment as well as last year’s back assessment.

Gander noted that the last time voters had to decide on a school tax levy – a four-year, half-mill levy approved in June 2008 – it was done at a special election, when turnout was modest. “A lot of people had no interest,” he said. “This time it’s countywide and a lot of people are going to go to the polls.”

The school board still will have to decide when to go for an extension of the half-mill levy, which initially was earmarked for a boost to school employees’ salaries and benefits. The half-mill levy expires in June 2012, so any referendum vote on that measure would likely have to go to voters on or before that time.

“I think the time elapsed is sufficient, it will be about 18 months until the next time,” said board member David Hinton, noting that the June 2008 referendum had received a better than 2-1 vote in favor of the measure.

But, he noted, the margin had been slimmer with the 200 or so absentee ballots that were cast. “That told me we didn’t do a good job (in promoting the proposal),” he said. “If it was done, I think it would have been an even bigger vote in our favor.”

Hinton said he shared some concerns about whether the .25-mill levy would pass this fall, but joined with board member Carl Whaley and Teresa Ann Martin in backing the ballot measure. “There’s a good possibility we won’t win this November, but I think it’s worth the effort,” he said.

Plans to take closer look at Gulf County transfers

After reviewing an email from Gulf County’s assistant school superintendent Bill Carr, the board signaled its plans to look more closely at its policies related to Franklin County students who transfer to the adjacent county without formal approval of the Franklin County School Board.

The district has long been concerned about the numbers of its students who bypass the formal process of seeking transfer approval by declaring themselves residents of Gulf County, even while they continue to reside with parents or family in Franklin County.

In a July 27 response to questions submitted by Superintendent Nina Marks on the board’s behest, Carr said students who want to enroll in Gulf County schools “must either get permission from the Franklin County School Board, or more to Gulf County.”

Carr said he personally verifies residency information, and makes the decision whether a student may be enrolled. He said he requires prospective students to have a “primary physical address in Gulf County,” which can not be a post office box. In addition, they must produce a change of address card from the post office, a change of address form for bills, and deposit receipts to activate utilities.

Members of the Franklin County school board, though, are questioning whether those procedures are strict enough to ensure actual residency in the particular district, which is required by state law. The board members plan to consider a measure at the September meeting that would prevent the guidance counselor or other school staffers from providing records to another school if the student has not received formal approval from the district to transfer.

“I want to vote on a policy next meeting that says that if you transfer to any of the neighboring counties, you would have to through the procedures that we talked about,” said Gander, referring to policies that could extend to providing proof of the county where a homestead exemption is granted, or where an individual is registered to vote.

“We were going to verify it before we sent any records,” said Gander. “I think that would stop a lot of the problem that we’re having.”

He also recommended that the Apalachicola Bay Charter School would be notified of any policy changes, since a district-wide rule could also serve to influence policy regarding charter school transfers out of the county.

“One of the strongest indicia of residency is voter registration,” said School Board Attorney Barbara Sanders. “Those are laws that are basically statewide, that you’re not supposed to vote in Franklin County if you live in Gulf County. Those are biggies about where you reside.”

Gander noted that the school board does not plan to go after Franklin County students who currently attend Gulf County schools. “I don’t think anybody’s on a witch-hunt,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is cut this out here and now.”

The district did receive some good news regarding the transfer situation, as it approved the transfer of three students from Liberty County who went through the formal process with Marks’ office.

“That’s not a misprint, is it?” quipped Thompson, when the matter came up for a vote, which was approved unanimously.