The Gainesville Sun editor, Nathan Crabbe, reports harassment by the Florida legislature. Buried in HB/SB 7087 is language requiring districts who place sales tax or property tax proposals on the ballot, have an OPPAGA approved audit. Districts are already required to have audits and get approval for new facilities. This measure impacts districts, like Alachua County that has a proposed facilities one-half cent sales tax. The chair of the sales tax campaign, an insurance agent, smells a conspiracy.
Other counties also will be affected. Alachua will move forward; they cannot do much else. The schools are over crowded and the facilities need repair. The constant cuts in school district funding for schools has created a crisis. Curious that the attorneys representing the State in the Citizens for Strong Schools lawsuit argued that if districts needed money, they could raise it locally. Then, the legislature makes even that more difficult. Will the State approve the request before the measure is put on the ballot?