Home Builders Association: Voters should renew half-penny tax for schools

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

by: Jaclyn Centofanti

Flagler County Home Builders Association board member; Sales & Marketing Manager, Hulbert Homes, Inc.

Half of a penny. Do the math.

On a $15 meal, that’s 8 cents. On a $5 coffee, it’s 3 cents. On an outrageous $75 gas tank fill up, it’s less than 50 cents. Want to think bigger? OK. On a $25,000 car, it’s still only $125.

They’re saying that now, due to inflation, you need 10% more income to live the same way you did last year. I understand that, and am feeling the effects just as much as you. But that’s 10%. This is half a penny on every dollar.

And this isn’t just random taxation. This is money going directly to the school district, to be spent at their discretion.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, because we saw this coming. “The Home Builders Association doesn’t support the schools.” In fact, we just spent over a year being extremely vocal in opposing a hefty increase in impact fees for the school district.

Let me explain the difference.

Impact fees are imposed on new construction across the board. There are impact fees for the fire departments, parks, roads, utilities and schools. These fees have distinct designations for these funds: expansion. Hence why the fees are connected to new construction.

In 2021, the Flagler County School Board voted to double the school impact fees. There were increases across the board, none of which we opposed, including an increase for the schools. We opposed the 100% increase, but stated at the start that we’d be in agreement with a 50% increase.

Studies over the past decade have shown a flatline in student population. The one thing that school impact fees can be used for is growth, or, as we like to refer to it, butts in seats. They can buy land on which to build schools, they can build a school, they can expand an existing school.

Although we continue to see a large increase in the number of homes built in Flagler County, those increases are not leading toward an increase in students.

I work for a home builder, and in the 30 contracts for new homes we have signed in the last two years, only one of my clients has school-aged children — and they’re homeschooled.

And if we’re dead wrong, and out of nowhere, the increase occurs in the next several years — we did approve a 51% increase, and the School Board has $30 million sitting in an impact fee fund and over $13 million in real estate. I imagine you can see why we opposed a 100% fee increase.

All that said, let’s talk about the half-penny sales tax that’s up for reelection.

This money is up for grabs. That is incredibly rare when it comes to money given to schools. There is almost always a designation (like impact fees) on where the money can be spent. Sometimes it’s technology, teacher salaries or a specific program.

But this money? This can go towards crayons and glue or new carpet or desks or bonuses or new security measures or additional SROs or technology.

Four years ago, when this sales tax came up, the education community pushed for it with a goal of getting our county to a one-to-one technology status. That means that every single one of our students from grade three and up has their own tablet or laptop.

Do you know what a big deal that is? We were pioneers in this program, and have seen the success of our students through it.

Supporting this half-penny sales tax will continue this program, and, according to the plan released from Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt, will also go towards other technology, safety, buses, renovations and energy efficiency upgrades.

As a reminder, the impact fee can affect none of the above items. As Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins stated, “It’s in the public’s hands.”

So even if you disagreed with our fight against the 100% increase in school impact fees, this decision is yours. The public alone has the deciding vote on this. Not the Home Builders Association, not the county commissioners, not the School Board. They’re asking you, and I’m suggesting you get out and vote to support it. I promise you will not miss it.

The students are our future. I am the product of the Flagler County School District, the daughter of a teacher with 30-plus years in Flagler, and the mother of a student currently enrolled in the district. I know firsthand what undesignated money can do for a school system.

So, on behalf of the Flagler County Home Builders Association, and of my dad and my children, I urge you to support the half penny sales tax which will appear on your ballot in November.