1-Mill Tax Renewal Referendum Heads to November Ballot

The one-mill ad valorem property tax renewal referendum is going to Duval County voters after the Jacksonville City Council approved its placement on the November election ballot.

If passed by Duval voters, this would renew the one-mill tax to supplement Duval County teacher salaries originally passed in 2022, effective July 1, 2027, until June 30, 2030.

The ordinance to place it on the ballot passed unanimously at the June 9 city council meeting, after District 11 City Council Member Raul Arias moved to have it – Ordinance 2026-0387 – discharged from the Finance Committee, which had deferred it at its meeting the week prior. The council approved the discharge and brought the ordinance to the council floor for discussion.

Several city council members spoke in favor of placing the referendum on the November ballot, including At-Large Group 2 Council Member Ron Salem, who stated he was one of the committee members who supported deferral at the Finance Committee meeting.

“I was not comfortable at that time with the bill,” Salem said, addressing the council. “…But I have been convinced that I am going to vote yet to put this on the ballot, because I think the evidence is there that this bill has made significant improvements in our system, and I want to give the residents the ability to vote on it themselves.”

Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Bernier shared the following statement with Resident News the day after the city council meeting:

“Last night, City Council acknowledged the importance of our teachers and their ability to shape the future of our community. We appreciate City Council’s action to place this question before voters, giving our community the opportunity to decide whether to continue the investment in our educators and their positive impact to our students and public school system.”

Duval Citizens for Better Schools, returning to once again lead the charge to renew the referendum, shared a statement commending the City Council for its decision, which read:

“City Council’s vote Tuesday night to put the One Mill property tax renewal referendum on the November election ballot is the right thing to do for our teachers as schools continue great improvement.

This is not a new tax. It simply continues our community’s longstanding commitment to our teachers and students. A strong Jacksonville depends on strong schools, and strong schools depend on our ability to attract and retain high-quality educators.

Since the first referendum was passed in 2022, the district has received its first-ever ‘A’ grade from the State of Florida and high school graduation rates now exceed the state average.

We cannot afford to lose the progress we’ve made. Renewing this funding is essential to maintaining momentum and ensuring continued improvement for our students and schools.

If the City Council had failed to place the referendum on the November ballot, teachers in Duval County public and charter schools would lose, on average, $8,600 annually in salary. That means we would lose good educators to nearby counties which can pay them more.”

Following the ordinance’s 15-0 passage (with Council Members Rory Diamond, Jimmy Peluso and Chris Miller excused and a non-voting Council Member Terrance Freeman), many residents thanked the city council for their decision and spoke in support of the referendum during public comment, including DCPS District 3 Board Member Cindy Pearson, who shared some statistics and information on the funds collected through the one-mill.

“Per statute, we share the one-mill with our charter partners, based on student allocations,” Pearson said. “So, 80% of what’s collected goes to DCPS, 20% goes to our charter partners. Of the portion that DCPS gets, 75% go for salary enhancement. You’ve heard it’s for teachers, but also for SROs (school resource officers), for paras (paraprofessionals), for other workers in the schools and in the school system; 12.5% goes for arts enhancements and 12.5% goes for athletics enhancements. The board votes on the expenditures.”

The referendum is now in the hands of the voters, who will be able to cast their vote in the 2026 General Election on Nov. 3.