ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Leaders with Orange County Public Schools are celebrating after voters approved an extension of a half-cent sales tax to fund the district’s construction and renovation needs for the next 10 years.
On Wednesday, the district held a dedication ceremony for Atwater Bay Elementary School, which is one of the newest projects funded by the sales tax which was also continued in 2014.
“We’re celebrating and so very grateful to our community that continues to stand behind our schools,” Superintendent Maria Vazquez said.
For months, district leaders advocated for the sales tax to be renewed and said more than $890 million worth of school maintenance projects were at risk if the measure failed.
“We would have been in quite a deficit had the half-penny not passed,” Vazquez said. “It would have, in my opinion, been detrimental because we would not have been able to maintain or build new schools.”
Vazquez said renovations, like this year’s project at Howard Middle School, are paid for through the tax and needed to keep up with the district’s growth.
“We would always welcome more dollars from the state, but that’s just not something that we know is going to happen in the near future,” Vazquez said.
A News 6 investigation found out some of the school maintenance money used to come from fees from telephone landlines but when those went away, so did the money. Meantime, lottery dollars now mostly fund secondary education and Bright Futures scholarships.
According to OCPS, the half-cent sales tax has generated more than $4 billion to help with renovations for more than 130 schools.
OCPS has further details about the facilities sales tax, click here.
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