TAMPA, Fla. — On Wednesday, Hillsborough County residents will get one step closer to finding out what will happen to the money collected from the transportation sales tax in Hillsborough County.
The money was collected through a penny tax voters approved in 2018. In 2021 the Florida Supreme Court invalidated that sales tax increase which tied up the money that was meant for transportation projects.
Around $570 million meant for Hillsborough road projects is currently held up in the state legislature due to some legal challenges.
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Hillsborough County Commissioners expected to get most of that money back to spend on transportation improvements, but that's no longer the case.
Governor Desantis announced he wants to refund that money to taxpayers. As for how that will work, it's still up in the air.
“What we don’t know at this point is how it would work. Would it be something where people have to provide receipts or proofs of purchase for that time? Would it be a situation where it would be a limited sales tax holiday for everybody? It is just unclear how that would work," County Commissioner Harry Cohen said.
It does mean the county will have a lot less money to spend on the intended projects.
Cohen thinks there will be some money left over for the county after the refund.
“We are just hopeful that whatever is leftover can be put to transportation uses for the people of Hillsborough County. After all, that’s why the money was collected to begin with,” Cohen said.
He said county commissioners have a long list of projects that need the funding.
That includes repairing roads and sidewalks, replacing bridges, improving safety, and reducing traffic.
Cohen said repaving roads is the most expensive project on the list.
Wednesday, commissioners will decide which of those projects take priority. They will then send that plan up to the state legislature
“Really, I think the ball will be in the court of Tallahassee. It will be up to the legislature and the governor to determine how this will ultimately be administered,” Cohen said.
He expects the legislature to take the county's plan into consideration and then move forward with refunding taxpayers.
After that, the county will have a better idea of how much money we get back from the state.
