Facing steep budget cuts and rising enrollment many of Florida’s community colleges are rallying behind an amendment on Tuesday’s ballot that would allow counties to propose a sales tax increase to help the colleges raise funds.
Amendment 8 is not itself a tax increase; rather it authorizes counties whose community colleges are seeking additional funds to submit a sales tax referendum to voters.
The measure which requires 60 percent approval to pass has drawn support from community colleges feeling the squeeze of a $116.4 million reduction in state funding this school year. At the same time more students are enrolling in community colleges as the economy continues to worsen.
“Last year was bad next year is not going to be any better,” said Roberto Martinez chairman of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission’s Governmental Services Committee and a member of the state Board of Education. “It might even be worse. I feel there is an urgent need to make sure funding is adequate across all levels of our educational needs.”
Colleges have tried to reduce their expenses without cutting student services but they have inevitably trickled into the classroom. Miami-Dade College eliminated its midwifery program and reduced the number of class sections offered. North Florida Community College has cut all of its athletic programs.
“In today’s challenged economic times the funding that our college receives from the state has simply not kept pace with the special demands and needs that we have in our community,” Juan Mendieta. Miami-Dade’s director of communications said.
Supporters of Amendment 8 say Florida’s diverse communities should have the right to individually support their local colleges. The measure’s few opponents argue it could create educational disparities between schools that do and don’t pass the tax.
“That would definitely put smaller rural schools at a disadvantage,” said John Grosskopf interim president of North Florida Community College.
North Florida serves students in six counties several of which are among the state’s poorest. The institution lost more than a half-million dollars in state funding this school year.
Grosskopf said Amendment 8 isn’t a solution for colleges like his as they would need to get voter approval for the tax increase in all six counties they serve - an unlikely prospect given their economic base.
Overall however the amendment has received broad support. It was resoundingly approved by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission and the Florida Association of Community College’s board of directors whose members represent an array of districts.
“This amendment has overwhelming support at the commission level an I think it’s because people realize how important community colleges are in Florida,” Martinez said.
According to the Department of Labor more than two-thirds of all new jobs require some post-secondary education and as Florida’s universities become more selective and families struggle to meet their basic needs many are turning to the more affordable route: community college.
Statewide there were 793,517 students pursuing degrees in community colleges in the 2005-2006 school year. That number climbed to 796,932 in 2006-2007.
This year’s figures are not yet available though several districts have reported seeing a continuation of that trend.
Combined with a reduction in state funds the enrollment jump makes it more difficult for some colleges to keep up.
If passed the short-term tax increase for community colleges wouldn’t be a first in Florida or the country. In 1992 voters in Miami-Dade approved a two-year property tax increase that raised $128 million. Those funds are still being used for scholarships and student services.
Counties in Texas regularly vote to raise the property tax with the exclusive purpose of supporting community colleges. Over the last four decades state support percentage-wise per student has declined moving the burden to local municipalities said Jay Pinkard a program director at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Allen Bense chairman of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission said the group felt Florida voters would be unlikely to support a property tax proposing the sales tax provision instead.
Florida’s community colleges are largely funded through the state’s general revenue and lottery proceeds. The remaining balance is filled through student tuition and fees.
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