Hillsborough County commissioners last week voted to make a second attempt at passing a transportation tax after the state Supreme Court overturned a previous tax plan approved by county voters in 2018.
The commission voted 6-1 to have the County Attorney’s Office draft a 30-year 1% sales tax to fund transit maintenance and improvements. The previous tax plan, which the state Supreme Court struck down in 2021, contained a transportation surtax and detailed directives about how the funds would be spent.
“The spending directives are unconstitutional in that they conflict with a state law that gives the county commission the authority to allocate such funds,” the high court said in its opinion. “Because it cannot reasonably be said that the voters would have approved the tax without the accompanying spending plan, we must strike the charter amendment in its entirety.”
The court said it was not possible to sever the tax plan’s spending plan from the tax, so it declared the whole measure unconstitutional.
But Commissioner Harry Cohen said this week that the county’s new plan would be structured to avoid legal issues raised by the original tax plan.
“The Florida Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Charter Amendment surtax because contrary to state law, the Charter Amendment did not allow the county commission to direct how the surtax funds could be used,” Cohen said in an email to the Florida Record. “Unlike the prior initiative, the county commission will direct how the funds will be used in the ordinance under consideration.”
The sole vote against the transit tax was by Commissioner Stacy White, who filed the lawsuit challenging the 2018 transit tax. The county should re-allocate funds from its existing budget to fund transportation maintenance and enhancement, according to White.
The commission wants to use transit tax funds to improve and maintain roads, bridges, sidewalks, intersections and public transit projects. The aim is to reduce the incidence of crashes, pedestrian injuries and property damage, according to the motion passed by the commission on March 23.
Commissions are calling for 54% to 59% of the funds raised to go to the county and cities and 40% to 45% to go to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, with less than 1% earmarked for the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization.