Duval Voters Decide Tuesday Whether to Renew the 1-Mill School Tax for Teachers, Arts and Athletics
The last item on Duval County's Nov. 3 ballot asks voters to continue the existing 1-mill property tax first approved in 2022 — a renewal, not a new tax — for teacher and staff pay, arts and athletics through June 2031.
One of the most consequential choices on Duval County's ballot this year is the last one on it. Voters on Tuesday, Nov. 3, will decide whether the Duval County School District continues its current 1-mill property tax for four more years, from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2031, according to the ballot language and the Jacksonville Public Education Fund's voter toolkit read this cycle. The ballot asks whether the district shall continue the millage for essential operating expenses, shared proportionately with charter schools, including compensating teachers, security and support staff, preserving academic programs, and protecting arts, athletics and student activities, with annual reporting on how the money is spent.
Supporters stress that the measure is a renewal, not a new tax: Duval voters first approved the 1 mill in 2022. Reporting by the Florida Times-Union read this cycle put the stakes plainly — backers say the millage generates about $102 million a year for traditional Duval schools and $24 million for charter schools, with 88% of the district's share helping pay teachers, paraprofessionals, school police and other staff, and the other 12% supporting arts and athletics, from band uniforms to scoreboards and auditorium refurbishments. The district has credited the funding with making pay more competitive: its reported teacher vacancy rate fell from 6.5% in 2022 to 4.4% in 2025, and teacher retention rose from 87% to 91% over the same period, according to that reporting. School Board members, the superintendent and top administrators are excluded from receiving millage payments.
Clay and Nassau county voters face the same kind of renewal on their ballots Tuesday, while St. Johns County voters renewed theirs in 2024, according to the Times-Union reporting. Duval early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1 — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the county's early voting sites — before polls reopen on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
