Hillsborough County commissioners have appealed a judge’s decision, by a 4-3 vote, that would have cleared the way for a school tax referendum to be placed on the November ballot.

At a back-to-school press conference Wednesday morning, coinciding with the County Commission meeting, Superintendent Van Ayres said the district intends to fight back.

“We will again do everything in our power to ensure that the referendum is put to the vote in November,” Ayres said.

The referendum would ask voters whether they support a property tax increase to fund teacher and staff salaries. Surrounding counties such as Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee have already passed such referendums.

In order for the referendum to be put to voters in the fall, the appeals court must side with the district before August 20.

However, if that is not the case, Ayres said, they plan to file a motion that would allow the referendum to remain on the ballot while the legal battle is ongoing.

“I’ll take this to court, but I’ve said we’re going to file that motion,” Ayres said. “But my time and attention right now is making sure our students have the best possible classroom experience from day one.”

The battle between the Hillsborough School District and the district administration has been brewing since the beginning of the year.

The county has put its own sales tax to the vote, a portion of which is passed on to schools to finance construction and maintenance. The Community Investment Tax was first introduced 30 years ago and must be renewed by 2026.

Commissioners who disagreed with the school tax proposal expressed concerns about asking voters to approve both proposals on the same ballot during a time of high inflation.

In a compromise, the commission had reduced the school district’s share of the CIT by 20%.

Ayres said the county needs both the sales tax and the proposed property tax referendum. In making the argument, he frequently pointed out that CIT revenue would only be used for capital projects, while the property tax would be used for employee salaries.

Nevertheless, last month the commissioners surprisingly voted against putting the property tax referendum to a vote.

In Hillsborough, there are about 400 teacher positions and 118 bus driver positions available for the coming school year.