HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners will meet Wednesday to decide how they will spend half a billion dollars on transportation improvements.
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.
Commissioners are now working to decide where the money will go so they can develop a plan to submit to the Florida State Legislature. They hope to get the money back in a few months.
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Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen said, “It is important that we come to some consensus among us on what we think the most equitable distribution is of this money and what it will be spent on.”
Cohen said he wants to see commissioners get on the same page about which transportation upgrades are needed most in the county.
“We have a long list of projects that we will be considering for this. Much of it generated by the public and by comment that we have heard over many years,” Cohen said.
Some of those projects include repaving roads, replacing bridges, providing safer routes to schools, and improving intersections. The money is still tied up in the state after a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court. The county needs to submit a transportation plan to the Florida Legislature before March.
“Any plan that is submitted to the legislature from the board of county commissioners is going to require four votes,” Cohen said.
He said with three new board members, Wednesday's meeting is crucial for commissioners to decide where this money will go.
“We don’t know exactly what we plan to spend the money on. The first decision that we’re going to have to make is whether or not we are going to share it with the municipalities,” Cohen said.
He explained that he expects they will choose to share the money with other municipalities like the City of Tampa which would then leave the county with about $420 million.
“While this money is certainly not in any going to solve Hillsborough County’s problems, it is much needed and it will make a difference,” Cohen said.
He said they will submit the plan by mid-February. If all goes well, Cohen expects the county will have the money back in July.
