ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County voters on Tuesday easily renewed the one-mill property tax that pays for teacher salaries, arts, athletics and other programs in Orange County Public Schools, the district that serves Orlando.
About 79% of voters said yes with most precincts counted. The levy, first passed in 2010, has been renewed every four years since and is expected to bring in about $255 million this year. It is not a new tax: the vote keeps the existing mill in place for four more fiscal years, starting July 1, 2027, and ending June 30, 2031, with the money shared with charter schools as required by law and an annual public report on how it is spent.
One mill works out to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.
Neighboring districts also won at the polls. In Lake County, a new quarter-mill add-on to an existing school safety tax passed with about 69% and is expected to raise roughly $49 million for teacher raises. Osceola County voters approved a new one-mill tax with about 64%, worth about $65 million to a district facing a $100 million shortfall that has already cut nearly 800 positions in two years.
School leaders had worried that the statewide Amendment 3 property tax cut, also on the ballot, would sour voters on local school levies. Districts across Central Florida are losing students, which reduces state per-pupil money, and officials point to falling birth rates, a slower housing market, the state voucher program and the immigration crackdown. The Orange County district also notes that state funding has not kept up with inflation.
Section: More Orlando FL education news
Filed under: Orlando FL Education News
