HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County Public Schools will workshop a millage referendum on Tuesday that it wants to place on the November ballot.

What You Need To Know

  • Hillsborough County school board members are meeting for a workshop to discuss a millage increase

  • Millage increase would cost the average homeowner around $.40 cents per day

  • Hillsborough County voters denied a tax increase in 2022 to support teacher pay raises

  • Most neighboring counties to Hillsborough County have already passed tax increases 

The millage increase would cost the average homeowner around $.40 cents a day, or about $146 per year, and fund the recruitment and retainment of teachers, administrators and staff in the district.

Hillsborough County school board members last asked voters for an increase in taxes back in 2022.

That referendum was held at the height of the inflation spike and at a time when the school district was still negotiating with teachers for a pay raise.

The referendum failed to pass by less than 600 votes.

On Tuesday, Hillsborough County Public Schools Vice Chair Jessica Vaughn says with inflation cooled and voters seeing other districts paying teachers more, it could motivate voters to strongly support the new millage increase.

“I think people really got to see, like if Pasco has gone out for it, if Pinellas has gone out for it, if Orange County has gone out for it, if Miami-Dade has had to go out for it, it’s not reflective that it’s just something here in Hillsborough. This is a statewide issue,” Vaughn said. “And I do think our community, above everything else, wants to make sure that we have a very healthy, accessible, quality public education system to offer our students and our kids.”

To get a millage increase on the November ballot, the school board will first need to draft language of the referendum, work that is expected to begin at Tuesday’s workshop.