Jacksonville City Council member Matt Carlucci said Friday he will offer an amendment Tuesday putting a sales tax referendum for schools on the November 2020 ballot rather than this November.
An amendment by Carlucci at the City Council meeting would mark a major shift in his stance. Carlucci has been one of the council’s most vocal advocates for putting the half-cent sales tax referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot, saying “more delay, more decay” if voters don’t have a chance to cast ballots on a sales tax.
He said he will offer the amendment because it would be difficult for elections officials to organize a special election between now and Nov. 5. In addition, he said in a statement that a successful referendum vote is “crucial to the future of the public school system, and that referendum should be held when the chance of success is greatest.”
Changing the date of the referendum to Nov. 3, 2020, could gain support from City Council members who have said they want a referendum but not as a special election this year.
Based on votes by City Council members in council committees and statements by other council members, a majority of the 19-member could support a 2020 referendum, even if that is not the first choice for all of them.
The Duval County School Board filed a request in May for the City Council to put the sales tax referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. Duval County School Board Chairwoman Lori Hershey has said she has some flexibility about the election date.
“I look forward to the matter being placed on the ballot in 2019, but not later than 2020, so that we can move forward on behalf of the students of Duval County Public Schools,” she said last week.
City Council could have voted on the referendum request in June, but the council decided to defer the legislation so newly elected council members taking office July 1 could weigh in. City Council and the School Board had a joint meeting Aug. 10 for council members to pose their questions to school district leaders.
On Tuesday, the council’s Finance Committee voted 5-2 to withdraw the referendum legislation (2019-380), which would prevent the choice for the sales tax from going before voters. The Rules Committee voted 4-3 to put the referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot, so dueling recommendations will be before the full council at its Tuesday meeting.
His statement said that given those challenges and the “need to rally public support” to ensure voters understand the justification for the sales tax and details of the district’s plan, “the wisest course of action is to delay the vote to give the referendum the greatest possible chance for success next year.”
A new state law says that any sales tax referendum after Jan. 1, 2020, can only take place on a general election ballot. The next general election will be the November 2020 election that will be topped by the presidential race.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 117 W. Duval St.
