Voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties will decide on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to renew local property taxes that help pay teacher salaries and school safety measures. Early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Rafael Villalobos said that if the referendum fails, the average base teacher salary would stay at $57,800 instead of rising to $70,000. The Miami-Dade tax, which voters approved in 2018 and 2022, costs homeowners $1 a year for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Besides salaries, it pays for school police and other security.
Villalobos, who is two months into the job, said falling enrollment is the district’s biggest challenge. He blamed falling birth rates, fewer immigrant students and families leaving because housing costs are too high. He cited a Miami Herald report that more than 70,000 families had left the county over affordability concerns.
He also warned that teachers priced out of South Florida could take jobs in states with lower living costs, including Georgia, the Carolinas and Texas. He said some of the district’s top performers could be among them.
Broward County voters are considering a separate measure to keep teacher salary supplements in place. Both local measures are distinct from Florida’s proposed Amendment 3, a statewide property tax question that is not intended to change school funding.
