Hillsborough Homeowners To Vote On Millage Tax That Would Increase Teacher Pay – Tampa Bay Now

TAMPA, Fla. (CW44 News At 10) – Residents in Hillsborough County will be heading to the polls on Tuesday, and will be voting on an important referendum that would impact schools across the county.

It’s a millage tax that the district has been pushing for since the beginning of this year.

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The tax is based on the value of a home and Superintendent Addison Davis says with this tax in place, the district will be able to pay teachers more and fill in teacher vacancies.

“It’s not fair to be a teacher and not afford to live here,” said Victoria Taylor, a Hillsborough County teacher.

With rising inflation, teachers are struggling.

“It seems like more funding needs to be appropriated to education because it’s a priority,” said Taylor.

That’s what Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis is trying to do.

“This will be able to allow us to recruit and retain the best and the brightest every single day,” said Davis.

The millage tax on Tuesday’s ballot would make property owners pay one dollar for every $1,000 of property value, creating an extra $146 million for the district every year.

Superintendent Davis says the money will go towards teacher pay and hiring for new classes.

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“It’s about expanding initiatives such as visual arts, performing arts and physical education,” said Davis.

This would give teachers a roughly $4,000 raise.

“I don’t think that it’s anywhere near what it should be because our cost of living has gone up so high,” said Taylor.

“I think if you did pay more, you would get more teachers into the profession and more college students into the profession,” said Kevin Davis, a Hillsborough County teacher.

Hillsborough County teacher, Victoria Taylor, says the lack of pay is causing teachers to quit.

“Some of the classroom sizes are larger because of that,” said Taylor.

Teacher, Kevin Davis, says the millage tax is not enough to pay teachers for how hard they work.

“We don’t end at 2:30, 3 or 4 O’Clock. We take work home, we work on weekends,” said Davis.

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Other items on the ballot in Hillsborough County include elections for school board members and circuit court judges.