POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A one-half-cent sales tax for school capital improvement projects is on the back of the ballot for Polk County voters. It’s a renewal of a tax that has been in place since 2003.

Mulberry High School is on the list of schools to rebuild, if the sales tax renewal passes. Principal Michael Young said the school has aging infrastructure, is at capacity, and needs upgrades to make it easier to navigate for disabled students.

It’s one of 607 schools in the district that is older than 40 years old.

"While we do have smart boards and computers and iPads and all those things, the classrooms of 1955 are very small. These buildings weren’t designed for air conditioning much less WiFi connectivity and smart boards,” said Michael Young.

Over the past 15 years, $516 million in sales tax revenue was spent on more than 400 projects including the construction of 12 schools and the remodeling of Kathleen High School, according to Angela Usher, Assistant Superintendent of Facilities and Operations for the Polk County School District.

“We have depended on this to maintain our schools and so if this goes away we will be in really big trouble,” said Angela Usher.

Usher said the district needs the renewal to pay for security upgrades.

“With the sales tax, we have $70 million set aside for safety and security. This includes the videos, the intercom upgrade, the fire alarm, single point entry, fencing. Every school will get improvements. With the little money we have, we’ve been doing that but not enough to meet the criteria,” Usher said.

Ashley Troutman, Chairman of the Sales Tax Oversight Committee, said the money would also fund maintenance projects.

“Right now, we have over a billion dollars in what we call deferred maintenance,” Troutman said.

The school district has plans to use the sales tax revenue to fund the construction of new schools as well.

“We are hoping to build five new schools,” Usher said, indicating many of them would be in the northeast corridor of the county.

If renewed, the tax will continue for another 15 years.

“With the sales tax, we have 70 million dollars set aside for safety and security. This includes the videos, the intercom upgrade, the fire alarm, single point entry, fencing. Every school will get improvements. With the little money we have, we’ve been doing that but not enough to meet the criteria,” Usher said.
“With the sales tax, we have 70 million dollars set aside for safety and security. This includes the videos, the intercom upgrade, the fire alarm, single point entry, fencing. Every school will get improvements. With the little money we have, we’ve been doing that but not enough to meet the criteria,” Usher said.