Curry says he'll back tax if plan is 'prudent'

Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday he would advocate for a half-cent sales tax for schools if he's convinced the school district has a plan that is "financially prudent and well thought out."

Curry said the Duval County School Board must provide more financial details and also ensure charter schools are included in a way that will "expand the choices available to families."

Curry's statement, which his office released in the form of a video, came a day after the City Council rejected an attempt to force a vote on legislation that would put the sales tax referendum on the ballot for Duval County voters to decide. Curry said Tuesday before the council meeting the school district had fallen short of presenting a detailed plan.

"We have to work together," Curry said in the Wednesday video of him fielding questions form a City Hall staffer. "This is what we have done the first four years I was in office. The opportunity for us to work together on this one, we must do. The mayor’s office, the City Council, the School Board, teachers and parents — this is available in the weeks ahead."

Duval County School District spokesman Tracy Pierce said the district appreciates Curry's questions and has been communicating with his office the "past few months."

Pierce said the district would respond to Curry in writing "with appropriate details."

City Council member Garrett Dennis tried Tuesday night to get a vote by the 19-member council on legislation to put the referendum on the ballot. Dennis got support from just three other council members: Jim Love, Joyce Morgan and Anna Brosche. The bill (2019-380) remained in the Rules Committee and won't get consideration again until mid-July after a new roster of council takes office July 1.

The lack of action angered supporters of a half-cent sales tax.

“It’s unfortunate only four council members understand their role with this referendum,” said Rep. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville. “Allow the voters to decide in 2019. Our children deserve safe and secure schools now — not later.”

“You don’t have to tell Ray Charles that he’s walking in the rain," the Rev. Aaron Flag said. "It’s raining a hidden agenda of politics over our children’s futures."

Curry remains opposed to the School Board's request for holding the referendum as a special election in November. But he said he could support a referendum on the November 2020 general election ballot if some "common sense elements" are in the plan.

"Well, as always, I stand ready to work with the people of our city to make that happen," Curry said in the video. "If such a plan is created, I will stand ready to see it on the November 2020 ballot and advocate for its passage."

On the financial side, Curry said he wants to see year-by-year projections for sales tax dollars, a total cost for the work and a "cost analysis per location including transparent accounting."

Regarding charter schools, Curry did not make any specific recommendations. He said "we need to acknowledge that charter schools are public schools and therefore should be included in this plan to expand the choices available to families."

"Parents need to be able to choose the best education options available for their children," Curry said.

At a School Board workshop Monday, Superintendent Diana Greene proposed that charter schools would benefit from the same funding formula as traditional schools for receiving sales tax money geared toward safety and security measures. The funding would be based on square footage of a school.

"Our charter schools are public schools," Greene told the board.

Charter schools also could be eligible to receive sales tax money for other improvements if a charter school does a facility condition study by the same engineering firm the school district used for assessing traditional schools, Greene said.

Greene said charter schools that lease, rather than own, their facilities would not be able to use capital funding on permanent fixtures. That restriction would protect taxpayer dollars if the charter school closes because the district could transfer the taxpayer-purchased items to other schools, Greene said in a letter sent Wednesday to city leaders.

She said her recommendations would treat charter schools in similar fashion to traditional schools while advancing the "important goal of equity in providing all students with outstanding learning environments."

The School Board's position on when it would determine the treatment for charter schools has shifted over the past month.

When the School Board submitted a May 22 request to City Council for a special election in November, the board said that if Duval County voters approved the sales tax, the district then would create a process for charter schools to get a portion of the revenue.

Greene later told a council committee on June 18 that if the council approves a date for the referendum election, that would result in the district starting the process for charter schools getting funding.

But some City Council members insisted the treatment of charter schools must be established before council votes on scheduling a referendum.

The school district also has put forward various projections for how much sales tax money would flow from a half-cent sales tax. Greene told City Council members on June 12 the district expected to generate about $1.3 billion over 15 years by using conservative projections of around $80 million per year.

The district's chief financial officer then told the City Council Auditor's Office in a July 10 email the district might revise upward the projection to $90 million to $95 million per year.

At a June 17 School Board workshop, PFM Financial Advisors showed a scenario for the sales tax collection to start at $106 million per year, a figure drawn from the Local Government Financial Handbook published by the Florida Department of Revenue.

PFM said that assuming a 2 percent annual growth in the amount of sales taxes collected, the district would generate about $1.7 billion in sales taxes over the 15-year period the tax would be in existence. The district says other revenue would pay for the rest of the $1.9 billion master facilities plan proposed by Greene.

That assumption of 2 percent growth in sales taxes is more conservative than the 4.25 percent growth rate the city is using to project future sales tax revenue for its pension reform plan.

In regard to Curry's questions about the cost for each school in the master facilities plan, Pierce said the district publicly released that information after Jacobs Engineering evaluated conditions of school buildings and Cooperative Strategies, a firm specializing in school planning and financing, calculated anticipated costs.