Florida collects a state sales tax of 6% on most purchases, and counties and school districts have the option of adding their own sales taxes onto that. Our Number of the Week highlights the role that sales tax can play in local communities. It is: 1/2.

Locally, Nassau and Baker counties leverage a small-county surtax of 1%. Duval and Clay both add local government infrastructure and school surtaxes.

Voters have to approve these taxes — which is why St. Johns County voters will see a question on their ballots in November that asks if they’d like to renew their current half-cent tax. Duval added its voter-approved half-penny surtax in 2020 to support renovating its school buildings and building new schools.

Beyond schools, Florida’s county governments also use surtaxes to support everything from transportation and infrastructure to emergency services. In total, the state has nine different categories of surtaxes counties can choose to impose, and the vast majority take advantage of them.

Only Collier County in Southwest Florida doesn’t have any surtaxes.

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