ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – As the St. Johns County School District wrestles with a potential half-cent sales tax increase on Tuesday's ballot intended to help build more schools, the head of the district gave his annual state of the schools address touting the accomplishments of the district and the need to keep those schools from overcrowding.
The St. Johns County School District is known as one of the highest-performing school districts in the state and has been ranked No. 1 many years. As a result thousands of families are moving to the area with thousands of new students each year and from the district's perspective it costs money to keep up with that expansion.
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Superintendent Dr. Joseph Joyner spent a lot of time in his address touting all the accomplishments of St. Johns County students from high graduation rates to how well students do on the SAT.
He then switched gears to the fact that more families wanting their children in the district means schools are bursting at the seams the county is having capital funding issues.
He started his address with a video showing a large list of things public schools have to fund, including sports, immunizations, art, music, driver's education and school security.
"We need more time, we need more resources to do the things we're expected to do. So those are challenges," Joyner said.
Over the summer alone St. Johns had to spend $4 million on portable classrooms and Joyner said if the sales tax hike doesn't pass, students and teachers will see more portable classrooms and more rezoning of school boundaries.
"I think the point that's made is we cannot do it alone," Joyner said.
READ: Election information sheet for St. Johns County special election
Kelly Barrera is a school board member who supports the tax hike. She represents northeast St. Johns County and said a lot of her constituents work and shop in Jacksonville where the sales tax rate is 7 percent. She said bumping St. Johns County's sales tax from 6 percent up to 6.5 percent would be no big deal.
"I support it because it makes fiscal sense. You can either spend your money on rent or you can spend it on buildings like this. It was built in 1910 and we're still maintaining it and we're still using it. My opinion is not only is it best for children, but it's best for taxpayers," Barrera said.
Dave Heimbold with the St. Augustine tea party said he is against increasing the county's sales tax.
He protested near the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections office, where people could early vote for or against the referendum.
"The St. Augustine tea party and the rest of the parties across the nation are against taxes," Heimbold said. "TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already. We're fed up. This is a fix. This is a con job. This is an attack on the people of St. Johns County."
According to the county's supervisor of elections website, 7,429 voters cast ballots during early voting, and 10,514 ballots had been submitted by mail, as of Monday night.
Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes said she's expecting a 25 to 30 percent turnout for the special election.
"This is about our community and our schools and it's important for people to participate in elections and let their voice to be heard," Oakes said.
Oakes said results of the vote should be ready at about 7:30 p.m. on election night.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the county but people must vote at their own voting precincts.
Aside from the St. Johns County special election vote on the sales tax increase other local elections include:
Nassau County:
- Fernandina Beach City Commission Group 4
- Fernandina Beach City Commission Group 5
- Fernandina Beach straw ballot for Mayor
- Two ballot questions for Fernandina Beach including commissioner terms and annual organizational meetings.
Putnam County:
- Town of Interlachen:
- 3 Council Members position
Crescent City:
- Mayor
- Commissioner Group 3
- Commissioner Group 4
Glynn County, GA:
- 1 percent sales tax for schools
- Brunswick City Commissioners
- Brunswick Redevelopment Powers Act
News4Jax.com will have updates throughout the night and a full report at 10.