TAMPA — Referendums 2 and 3 are two distinct and different issues dealing with Hillsborough County schools and transportation.
"It's a long ballot and we want to make sure that voters go all the way down to the bottom, so vote bottom up,” said Rena Frazier of All for Transportation.
"There's oftentimes where 30 percent of the voters don't compete the ballot,” said Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins with the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers’ Association.
You'll find both sales tax referendums stuck on page four of a long and cumbersome mid-term ballot. proponents fear voters won't bother to weigh in despite compelling reasons.
"Our per capita transportation spending here in Hillsborough County, it's the same as Macon, Georgia, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Great places but it's not really places we compete with,” said Tyler Hudson with All for Transportation.
Referendum 3 would approve a half-cent sales tax increase for capital school improvements like fixing leaky roofs and replacing broken air condition units.
The transportation referendum, number 2, is aimed at fixing ailing roadways, sidewalks, potholes and expanding public transit.
All for Transportation, the group backing Referendum 2, says around 54 percent would go towards road projects.
"This is not a roads plan. There is little to anything in there for the suburban commuter,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacey White.
Commissioner White says the transportation referendum won't do anything for rural commuters, especially those driving Lithia-Pinecrest Road daily, in his district.
"There's no dedicated funding source for roads so the suburban commuters you see behind me in the background, they will experience little to no benefit,” said Commissioner White.
