The History of Polk Promise

The half-cent sales surtax tax was approved by the voters on May 13, 2003. This increased the county sales tax from 6% to 6.5%, and only applies to the first $5000.00 of the price of a taxable purchase. Approved for 15 years, the collected tax was designated toward the following needs: 
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• Construction of new schools and classroom additions to reduce overcrowding
• Elimination of portables by constructing permanent facilities
• Renovation of existing schools
• Improvements for the safety of students
• Improvement of technology  

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The Oversight Committee

As part of the 1/2 cent sales tax initiative, a twenty-one member Oversight Committee was formed, appointed by the Polk County School Board, for financial accountability. The district's Facilities staff reports to the committee four times yearly, to review current, new, and potential future projects funded with sales tax money. 

​The purpose of the committee is to oversee the management of the tax collected to insure that such funds are used in the way they were intended. At each meeting, the committee members receive the following reports: 
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• Sales Tax Receipts
• Construction projects completed in the last quarter
• Projects in progress
• Projects to begin the next quarter
• Other information desired by the committee

The committee meets quarterly, every March, June, September, and December, with the option to call for additional meetings as deemed necessary.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.

Did you know...?

The average family of four with an income of $55,000 a year pays about $61.25 per year for the half-cent sales tax? That's only a little more than $5.00 a month. Every (half) penny counts!

Half Cent Sales Tax Average Per Family
(Source: IRS.gov)

Click on the chart to enlarge. Click outside of the chart to return to this screen.