Orange County Public Schools are pleased that the half cent sales tax referendum was renewed for another 10 years, but the same can’t be said for everyone. A group called Ax the Tax was against the tax and has now filed a complaint against the school district, saying they violated federal and state laws by advertising the referendum. 

Ax the Tax said they have a problem with schools getting political by putting up signs around campus. But they say the school system crossed the line when they sent out an automated phone call to all families in the county, encouraging them to hit the polls to vote on the half-cent sales tax.

Despite the low voter turnout overall, the half-cent sales tax passed by 64 percent of the vote in Orange County on Tuesday. And that means the current tax will stay in place for 10 more years, collecting an estimated $2 billion to renovate or replace 59 schools and provide upgrades in technology.

“It’s very important because there are no other revenues,” said Dick Batchelor, chairman of Change 4 Kids and News 13 political analyst. “There are no federal dollars, no state dollars, no local dollars, there’s no basis for it, so without the half penny sales tax extension, those 59 schools simply would not have been built.”

Opposed to that belief is Doug Guetzloe, founder of Ax the Tax. He claims the school district used the emergency contact system to send out automated phone messages about the tax.

No one is allowed to send to cell phones political messages, regardless of who they are,” Guetzloe said. “Whether or not they used the cell phones, they still violated Florida law by not saying who paid for it and a phone number where somebody could be reached.”

But the school board said these claims have no merit.

“Messages were sent out on Connect Ed, which is our connection system with families throughout the district. It’s not solely for emergency purposes,” said Bill Sublette, Orange County School Board Chairman. “It’s to convey information. And everything that was sent out by OCS was vetted by our legal system.”

The Orange County School Board said they feel confident that the courts will dismiss this complaint.