HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A circuit court judge has rejected a transportation referendum tax that would have increased funding for countywide transportation improvements by levying a one percent sales tax.
Karen Jaroch filed the motion to prevent voters from deciding on the referendum as a "citizen, resident, register voter, and taxpayer" of Hillsborough County. She stated that the ballot language was too vague and would confuse voters.
"The only losers today are the residents of Hillsborough County who have again had their opportunity to fix our broken transportation system delayed," All for Transportation (AFT) co-founder Tyler Hudson said.
AFT supported the plan on the November ballot, but they said that the next step would have to be decided by the county government.
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"We will continue to pay the high price of doing nothing, and the call for action will only grow louder," he continued. "We’re facing a transportation emergency, and we hope the County Commission will explore every legal avenue to bring this question to the voters in 29 days."
The ballot language that the court rejected read:
“Should transportation improvements be funded throughout Hillsborough County, including Tampa, Plant City, Temple Terrace, Brandon, Riverview, Carrollwood, and Town ‘n’ Country, including projects that:
• Build and widen roads.
• Fix roads and bridges.
• Expand public transit options.
• Fix potholes.
• Enhance bus services.
• Improve intersections.
• Make walking and biking safer.
By levying a 1% sales surtax for 30 years and funds deposited in an audited trust fund with citizen oversight.”
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor also supported the referendum.
Our community's future hinges on solving our transportation crisis. I hope the Hillsborough County Commission looks at every option to make sure voters will still have their say on this critical issue on November 8.
— Jane Castor (@JaneCastor) October 10, 2022
The proposal would have raised about $340 million in its first year.
Here’s a breakdown of how those funds would have been allocated:
- 45% would go directly to HART for things like enhancing bus services and expanding public transit options.
- 54.5% would be divided among Hillsborough County, Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City based on their relative populations, with projects that improve, repair and maintain existing roads and bridges, including fixing potholes, congestion reduction and safety improvements among funding priorities.
- The final 0.5% would be used for planning and development purposes.
If the plan sounds familiar, that’s because it’s nearly identical to what was asked of Hillsborough County voters in 2018. That measure passed, but the State Supreme Court later struck down the tax.
“I know there are other ways to do it,” Dr. James Davison said.
Davison is with No Tax for Tracks and Fix Our Roads First. He said it’s not that they’re against transportation, but they don’t agree the tax is needed right now.
“We want the roads fixed, we want some increase in the bus operations, and we have provided a plan that does that without raising taxes,” Davison said.
Part of Davison’s alternate solution would be to use existing historic revenues instead, including the ad valorem tax.
