TAMPA, Fla. — After a court battle and mass confusion about the Hillsborough County Transportation Surtax Referendum, the voters who did cast a vote on the issue rejected it by a two-point margin.
Hillsborough voters voted the referendum down by a 51-49 percent margin. It was the second referendum seeking increased revenue that Hillsborough County voters rejected this year.
The 2022 referendum was almost identical to a 2018 transportation referendum in Hillsborough County. That measure passed, but the Florida Supreme Court struck down the tax. Roughly $500 million still sits in limbo from that tax; state leaders will have to decide how it can be used.
The 2022 tax referendum would have increased the sales tax by one percent in the county.
Here’s a breakdown of how the funds from the 2022 transportation referendum 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.
The referendum's future was thrown into chaos on October 10, when a circuit court judge struck down the language in the 2022 referendum, saying it was too vague. The county appealed the judge's verdict after an emergency commission meeting.
However, by the time the judge’s ruling was issued, ballots had already been printed and, in many cases, mailed out to early voters with the referendum on the ballots.
Hillsborough officials asked voters to cast a vote on the measure even with the future in question. Still, voters rejected the referendum.
How that will impact the overall court case is unknown.
