TAMPA, Fla. -- Call it a wish list of sorts: What projects Hillsborough County Schools will tackle using funds from a half-penny sales tax across the district, if passed.
Voters will be asked to approve the education referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot. If given the go-ahead, the added sales tax would not be charged on groceries or medicine but only on the first $5,000 of large purchases.
District officials say a typical family in Hillsborough County would pay $63 a year if the referendum is approved.
Superintendent Jeff Eakins, speaking at Westchase Elementary School, detailed some of those projects. They include:
• 203 school air conditioning replacements and overhauls
• 63 aging roof replacements
• 63 aging roof replacements
• $500,000 will be invested at every school in buildings owned by our district
There are more than 1,785 projects needed in different schools during the next 10 years. Parents, students and school staff can see the complete list of which schools need repairs and the projects coming if the sales tax is approved on the district website.
The school board will ask for another countywide vote in March 2019 if the voters strike down the referendum.
Hillsborough County has more than 230 schools, with the average age being nearly 50 years old and many are in need of major improvements.
The district also plans on using $25 million over 10 years to transform classrooms into career learning laboratories.
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