TAMPA, Fla. — You may have received a postcard in the mail recently alerting you about refunds being issued in Hillsborough County. With all the schemes going around lately, it can be hard to tell what's real and what's fake.
But this isn't a scam—residents can file a claim and receive up to $100 if they lived in or visited Hillsborough County between Jan. 1, 2019, and March 15, 2021. The refunds are part of a class action lawsuit concerning All for Transportation sales tax that voters approved in 2018.
According to the Hillsborough County Surtax Settlement Program, the Florida Department of Revenue collected around $569 million through the 1% sales tax. In 2021, the Florida Supreme Court deemed the tax unconstitutional.
The money from the lawsuit will not only be issued as refunds to residents, but approximately $256 million will also fund transportation projects.
The tax was intended to collect money to support transportation-related projects and ease traffic problems. After two years, it was thrown out following a lawsuit, leaving the money collected in limbo.
It wasn't until 2022 that a judge ruled that more than half a billion dollars collected would go to the county, but only after state leaders decided how.
