EXCLUSIVE: OCPS Chief Communications Officer discusses half-cent sales tax on WDBO

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orange County School Board voted to move forward with a half-cent sales tax referendum on November’s ballot.

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If the referendum is approved by voters in Orange County, the school board said it will help fund the district’s capital construction needs for the next ten years.

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Chief Communications Officer and President of the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, Scott Howat, spoke with WDBO on Orlando’s Morning News about the referendum.

“For the next ten years, we know that we are going to have construction and capital needs for our schools, for the schools that we’ve built, in order to maintain those, for the new schools, based on the growth we are seeing in Orange County,” Scott Howat said. “We know based on those needs, we are going to need an additional $4 billion to address that, and because of that the half-cent sales tax is critical to meet that need.

READ: Orange County School Board approves half-cent sales tax on November’s ballot

Howat said, since 2002, the half-cent sales tax has produced more than $4 billion for school construction and renovation or replacement of 136 schools and the construction of 65 new schools.

The referendum has been approved by Orange County voters over the last two decades and was continued back in 2014.

READ: Orange County School Board, Classroom Teachers Association votes to ratify ‘historic’ raise

The county commission still needs to approve the referendum to officially be put on November’s ballot, which could be voted on next month.

Listen to full interview with OCPS Chief Communications Officer, Scott Howat, on the Anez Sez Podcast:

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