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The School District of Lee County hit its two year mark in January in receiving funds from the voter-approved half cent sales tax, which officials say has greatly benefited the district as nearly a third of its capital budget would not be present if not for the money.

Chief Financial Officer Dr. Ami Desamours said the current year capital budget is $453.8 million. Of that, 32 percent, or $144,345,409, is from sales tax revenue.

“That’s pretty phenomenal when you look at it that way,” she said.

As of March, that amount was broken down to 16 percent ($23,267,125) going to construction, 18 percent ($33,131,533) going to technology, 18 percent ($26,036,453) for safety, 25 percent ($36,273,083) to maintenance and 23 percent ($25,637,215) in reserves.

For fiscal year 2019, from January to June, the district received $36,453,161 from sales tax revenue. In fiscal year 2020 they received $79,534,198. For 2020, Desamours said they have out collected fiscal year 2020 in basically every month this year.

“The projections are over actual collections,” she said.

The current projection is $76 million for fiscal year 2021. Desamours said they have earned 62 percent of the total fiscal year 2021 revenue in six months.

The presentation included a break down by school level, zone and age of school, as the data is an important piece when defining projects that will utilize the sales tax monies. Desamours said by looking at those areas they can identify projects effectively and appropriately while addressing the district’s priorities.

“We are looking at it holistically to look at priorities and what the board identifies as values and what you want to see,” she said.