Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/190797
Sarasota News Leader October 11, 2013 Page 26 He characterized the expected voter total "I don't think you're going to lose $40 million in March compared with November as "the [with the later vote]," Barbetta told the News difference between night and day," saying, Leader. "Turnouts are incredibly poor in March." However, School Board Chairwoman Jane Barbetta added, "I know the School Board's Goodwin stressed Zucker's points in an interupset with me." view after the News Leader's deadline for its He referenced a comment School Board Sept. 27 article on the discussion. member Caroline Zucker made to the News Leader last month, after he raised the issue during the commission meeting. Zucker said that because the School Board budget has to be finalized each July for the next fiscal year, the district literally could not afford to wait until November to hold the referendum. The special 1 mill tax added about $40 million to the current district budget, she pointed out. "So what would [he] have us do?" Goodwin asked. "Cut everybody's pay" and then, if the referendum wins voter approval in November, restore the salaries to their previous levels? Al Weidner, deputy chief financial officer for the school district, told the News Leader on Sept 25 that the referendum money is paying for 497 positions in the current school year. Instead of supplies, the $40 million in revenue from a special School Board tax enables the district to pay for staff it otherwise could not afford. Photo by Popolon via Wikimedia Commons