School board to vote on half cent sales tax increase at Tuesday meeting

It’s your money—and we’re days away from learning when a vote will take place on raising the sales tax.

The Lee County School Board wants to hold a special election to decide whether to raise the tax in the county.

Louis Navarra lives in Lee County and is against the idea of increasing the sales tax by half a cent to pay for school projects.

“It charges the poor, hardworking Lee County people. The rich? They can afford a half a cent! But it’s your hard working people here. They have to buy more,” Navarro said.

The Lee County School Superintendent says the money is needed to keep up with growth and to keep kids safe.

“These are dollars we need now to build schools so every kid has a seat,” said Superintendent Gregory Adkins.

On Tuesday, the board decides whether or not to hold a special election, so the public can decide if the half cent increase is worth voting for.

That special election could cost the district more than $800,000 in the short term. But it would bring in millions of dollars for students in the long run, money that would pay for new schools, school buses and technology.

Even so, taxpayers like Navarra want other options.

“They want to spend $880,000? They should be spending that money on something else!” Navarro said.

It’s something the school board will consider over the weekend.