Pasco's school salary tax renewal is on the Nov. 3 ballot: what Dade City voters should know

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Pasco County voters, including those in Dade City and the San Antonio and Saint Leo area, will decide on the Nov. 3 ballot whether to keep a school property tax of up to 1 mill that supplements pay for the district's teachers and staff. The School Board of Pasco County is asking voters to renew the millage first approved in 2022, and the district's referendum FAQ says it is the same millage, not an additional mill.

Voters who want to cast a ballot before Election Day can do so during early voting, which runs from Monday, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 31, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, according to the Pasco Supervisor of Elections schedule.

Two separate school funding measures

Measure	Background	What the money can pay for
School salary referendum	First passed in 2022; renewal on Nov. 3, 2026 ballot	Supplements eligible employee salaries, plus a small amount for school safety
Penny for Pasco	Approved in 2022; shared with county government and municipalities	Capital improvements only, such as building or renovating schools; not salaries or safety personnel

Source: pasco.k12.fl.us

What it costs a property owner

The district's math: one mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, so a home assessed at $200,000 pays about $200 a year. Because this is a renewal, the district says homeowners will not see an increase if their assessed value does not change. A higher assessment would raise the dollar amount, since the rate is applied to that value.

The district also says the millage applies only to property owners and that residents who do not own property do not pay property taxes.

Where the money goes

According to the district, the referendum currently generates about $60 million to supplement eligible employee salaries, with a small amount for school safety, including additional personnel to support schools and respond to threats. A Sept. 28 report by the Pasco County Community Website said the pay supplement reaches teachers, bus drivers, instructional assistants, custodians, food service workers and other support staff.

By statute, the renewal would last four years unless a majority of voters approve it again.

What the district says happens if it fails

The district's FAQ says that without the referendum, employees would see an approximate 12% salary reduction that cannot be replaced through other funding sources. It also says cutting every administrative position would fall far short of covering the $60 million.

The district frames the vote as a regional pay competition. It notes that Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas had salary referenda passed or renewed in 2024, and that Polk will put one before its voters for the first time this November. The district says it still has openings in special education and other hard-to-fill positions.

The district says it has given raises averaging 3% a year since 2022 on top of referendum money, but acknowledges that even with both, its pay is close to other districts in some job categories and not all.

Not the same as Penny for Pasco

Penny for Pasco is a separate funding measure. The district says the salary referendum provides operating money that must stay separate from facility funding and be spent only as the ballot language allows. The table compares the two.

Oversight and the district's case

The School Board set up a Salary Referendum Oversight Committee in 2022. The district describes it as a group of qualified volunteers that reviews the budget and allowable expenditures and provides an annual report to the board and community, and says it will continue if the tax is renewed.

For residents who want to see how the money has been used before voting, the committee's minutes are posted on the district's Financial Information page. The district says millage funds are tracked separately, and it cites an AA credit rating and a solid fund balance.

The district also lists academic results it reports since the referendum passed in 2022: a state A rating for the first time since 2008 and no D or F schools for the first time since 2004.