School Board approves millage and budget for coming year

The Sarasota County School Board approved the 2017 millage and 2017-2018 budget at a July 25 meeting.

The total millage rate was set at 7.209 per $1,000 of taxable property value, which is down about 3% from last year’s rate.

This year, the county's total value of taxable assessed property increased by about $4 million. But thanks to the state rollback rate, or when tax rates go down to offset rising property values, the School Board won't benefit from that rise in values.

“School taxes are actually going down for the citizens of Sarasota County,” said Board member Shirley Brown.

Brown also expressed her hope that in the coming years, she and other school members can get the message to legislators that local governments should set tax rates.

“New construction leads to new families moving in, and new families moving in leads to new students coming to our schools, and I would hope that… [we can] hold the millage rate at what it is, so we don’t have to roll it back again,” she said.

Board Chair Catherine Zucker agreed, emphasizing that as more children come into the district, they will need more money.

The board also approved the budget for the coming school year, at about $698 million. This is an increase of approximately $36 million over the previous school year.