Senate Backs School Funding Boost at Local Taxpayer Expense
November 15th, 2017 by Mike Vasilinda
Governor Rick Scott’s final budget is asking for a two hundred dollar per student increase. Nearly six hundred million of the increase would come from local taxpayers in what is know as the Required Local Effort, or RLE. The plan doesn’t’t increase property owners milage rates, but it does use the growth in property values to fund schools. Senate Budget Chair Rob Bradley says that doesn’t qualify as a tax increase.
“We’re very committed in the Senate to K 12 education. A very important part of that commitment is making sure we have the RLE. And so, it’s not a tax increase. We agree with the Governor” Bradley told reporters after his first meeting as budget chair.
Whether or not paying more is a tax increase or not has been a point of contention between lawmakers last year and the year before.
Posted in State News | 
No Comments »