ORLANDO, Fla. – When you walk through the halls of Edgewater High School in the present day, there are reminders of the past. Pictures show what the auditorium originally looked like when the school was built in 1952. In 2011, it was upgraded in a renovation paid for by sales tax approved by voters in the early 2000s.
Scott Howat, the chief communications officer at Orange County Public Schools, gave our News 6 team a tour of the school to showcase the power of the half-cent sales tax. Orange County’s is set to expire late next year.
“The half-penny sales tax, when it comes to a revenue stream, is really the only stream we have to address growth, to build new schools, to address those major renovations,” Howat said.
This November, it could be up to voters to approve it once again.
“The half-penny sales tax is critical, and our board will make a decision to move forward based on budget, based on data, based on what they’re looking at,” said Howat “The survey was critical for that.”
We asked OCPS to share the results of their recent facilities survey with our News 6 team. Howat said it gives them feedback from faculty, families, and the community so they can move forward and make informed decisions.
More than 10,000 people shared their priorities, and what they feel is their school’s top building or maintenance need. The responses were compiled in groups including elementary schools, K-8′s, high schools and more. Some top concerns were shaded spaces, A/C, overcrowding and clean and safe bathrooms.
“A lot of these immediate needs are getting fixed,” Howat said. “The issue is the fix needs to be long term. You want to invest back in your facilities.”
Our News 6 Investigators found out that more than $890 million worth of maintenance projects in Orange County could go unfunded, and they’re not the only district. The superintendent of Marion County Public Schools calls it a crisis.
“I think we have, and it’s not being overly dramatic,” Dr. Diane Gullett told News 6 in February.
“It’s been 15 years since there’s been a sales tax for our facility needs, and it’s been 13 years since we’ve had impact fees since they were suspended,” said Dr. Gullett.
Marion County also wants voters to decide in November.
If the Board approves a referendum for the ballot in Orange County, voters will decide to renew the existing half-cent tax.
“This is a continuation. If you paid it before, you’re paying it now,” said Howat. “Secondly, 50% or more of this tax is paid for by people who don’t even live in Orange County. You have Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Brevard paying for our schools here in Orange County, because they come into our county, they spend money, they pay. That tax is derived by more than 50%t from those who don’t even live here.”
Now that Orange County Public Schools has the community’s input from its survey, leaders are working on the half-cent sales tax proposal. On May 7th, the Board will discuss their budget capital priorities for the next year and for the next 10 years and make a decision as to whether they’re going to put the sales tax before voters in November.
News 6 asked what happens if voters don’t want to approve it again.
“I don’t even want to think about that,” said Howat. “If that happens, we could go back to some of those pictures that we saw from Edgewater. We’d have 50-year-old buildings, portables to address growth. We would not be able to build schools.”
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