Voters in Miami-Dade approved on Tuesday, November 3, with over 81% of the votes, the renewal of the school tax known as Referendum 268, aimed at supplementing teachers' salaries and funding school safety, according to the network WSVN.
The measure will allow these resources to be maintained for public and charter schools in the county from July 1, 2027, to June 30, 2031, preventing thousands of educators from losing a significant portion of their income.
The tax was initially approved in 2018 and renewed in 2022. This is the third time that voters have supported its continuation.
The superintendent of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Rafael A. Villalobos, expressed gratitude for the community's support and emphasized the importance of maintaining competitive salaries to retain educators.
"We are deeply grateful to the voters of Miami-Dade County for once again placing their trust in our public schools. Our teachers carry the weight of inspiring our children every day, and ensuring they are competitively compensated is essential for retaining the best talent in our classrooms," he stated.
How much do the owners pay and how is the money distributed?
The renewal maintains a fee of one mill (one mill), equivalent to one dollar annually for every 1,000 dollars of taxable property value.
For example, a property with a taxable value of $300,000 pays $300 annually for this concept.
It is not a new tax, but rather the continuation of one that county property owners are already paying.
According to an analysis by the Miami Herald based on data from the Miami-Dade property appraiser, the cost for the average homeowner is approximately 188 dollars annually.
According to WLRN, 88% of the raised funds is allocated to teacher salary supplements, while the remaining 12% funds the School Police department.
Without the renewal, educational authorities had warned that the average annual compensation for teachers could drop from about $73,030 to approximately $57,814, which would have weakened the district's ability to compete for teaching staff with other counties and states.
Salary supplements of up to 28,000 dollars per year
According to the Miami Herald, the base salary for a teacher starting their career in the district is $50,150 per year.
This amount is supplemented by funding from the property tax, the amount of which depends on years of experience.
New teachers starting their careers receive about 3,000 additional dollars per year, while those with 32 years of experience can earn supplements of up to 28,000 dollars annually.
The newspaper highlighted the case of Osmarie Fortich, a 47-year-old teacher with 21 years of experience in the Miami-Dade Public Schools, who teaches language and literature, journalism, and technology at Henry H. Filer High School in Hialeah.
The tax-funded supplement accounts for $16,000 of his annual salary of $72,500. Despite this income, Fortich explained that he needs to clean houses and offer private tutoring to make ends meet.
Without the supplement, he would have had to face difficult decisions, such as giving up his home or leaving the school district where he has built his professional career.
The concern was widespread among their colleagues. In a survey conducted by the Miami Herald prior to the vote, 121 out of 126 participating teachers believed that losing the supplement would have disastrous consequences for their households.
Almost four out of ten respondents stated that, without that income, they would have had to leave teaching or move away from Miami-Dade.
The survey gathered the experiences of the participating teachers and does not constitute a representative sample of all educators in the county. After the election results were announced, Fortich expressed his relief and thanked the community for their support of the teachers.
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