Hillsborough Commission OKs school tax referendum

TAMPA — Four years ago, more than 221,000 Hillsborough County residents voted in the August primary election. Less than three months later, voter turnout jumped 150 percent to 528,344 for the November 2020 general election ballot that included a local sales tax referendum for school construction.

That data led Hillsborough County Commissioners Ken Hagan and Stacy White to reject the school district’s request to schedule a property tax referendum for this year’s primary election on Aug. 23.

“I just don’t understand why this request isn’t for the general election. Essentially you’re disenfranchising a big portion of the electorate,” Hagan told the Tampa Bay Times prior to the meeting.

Their dissent, however, remained in the minority. Commissioners voted 5-2 Wednesday to honor the Hillsborough School Board’s request for the Aug. 23 referendum.

If the measure gains approval from voters, property owners would pay $1 for every $1,000 in assessed value, joining 21 other Florida school districts that have looked to their communities to supplement state appropriations. Pasco County also is asking voters to approve a similar referendum in August.

Hillsborough school superintendent Addison Davis has estimated the tax would raise $126 million a year, of which $106 million would remain in the district and the rest would go to independently managed charter schools.

While Hagan cited the timing of the ballot question, White was more pointed in his criticism of the tax referendum coming amid rising inflation, high gasoline prices and stock market declines.

“The school board members that voted to place this measure on the ballot are absolutely out of their mind,” said White. “...Just a terrible time.”

White attempted to amend the school board resolution to schedule the vote for the November general election, but it died for a lack of second.

Commissioner Mariella Smith said the commission — to comply with state law — had to approve the referendum request as presented. She called said the dissent “rings of political gamesmanship” and comes at the expense of “not being in the collegial spirit that some have indicated we should strive for.”

The school referendum follows the 2018 school sales tax measure that passed with 56 percent of the vote. Hillsborough County also is asking voters to consider a 1 percent sales tax for transportation. Voters approved a similar sales tax in 2018, but the Florida Supreme Court later voided it on a legal challenge from White.