The Broward County school board is taking legal action against the county tax collector after the office earlier this year withheld more than $5 million that came from a school referendum.
A referendum passed by voters in 2022 was intended to raise funds to benefit employee salaries, safety and security, and mental health at the school district. But the school board found out in January that from $275 million raised last year, $5.6 million — or 2% — had been held back by the county tax collector as a commission fee.
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, board members directed district lawyers to "explore any and all legal avenues... including conflict resolution and/or formal litigation," according to the agenda item, to capture the funds.
" I think it is incredibly disheartening that it has to come to this, but we owe it to the taxpayers and we owe it to our families to make sure that the money that people voted on is going towards our teachers, and our safety and security, and mental health," said board member Rebecca Thompson.
The County Tax Collector office, which began work in January 2025, held on to the money as a commission fee. Collector Abbey Ajayi said the fee isn't new and it complies with state law dating back decades, in an op-ed she wrote published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel in March.
In April, the Broward Office of the Inspector General reached a settlement with Ajayi over charges that Ajayi improperly used county resources while running for office in 2024. Both sides settled for a $4,000 fine and Ajayi admitting liability.
Against the standard
But district officials said the 2% collection goes against the standard that had been followed in previous years.
School board members expressed shock on the dais after learning of the fee in January this year. But the tax collector office said they communicated the charge with the district.
Officials had, in fact, sent a letter about the money. But it went to a school board satellite office in Oakland Park. Superintendent Howard Hepburn said in a letter he was not notified about it.
"I have not received any such notification, nor has any correspondence been directed to my office or addressed to me," Hepburn wrote in the January response. "It is my understanding that any notice may have been sent in error to an off-site District location rather than through the Superintendent's Office or appropriate executive channels."
He also flagged the transaction's timing as another blow to the district's already delicate financial state due to plummeting enrollment, which has dug a $90 million hole in the budget.
"Because this reduction was not known or anticipated during budget development, the District was unable to account for it in the current fiscal year," Hepburn wrote. "As a result, this unexpected withholding now places us in the untenable position of either reducing services funded by the referendum or drawing from our limited general fund balance."
Board member Adam Cervera was adamant on getting the money back.
" I've been screaming from the mountaintop since January that we needed to take action to right this wrong," said Cervera. Turning to General Counsel Kathy Dupuy-Bruno, who sits on the board dais, "and I really hope that you unleash the Kraken and use all available resources. Explore all available legal options you have... I want my money back."
The referendum is on the ballot again this November to renew it.
