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Hillsborough's half-cent transportation sales tax passes key vote, but its future is still uncertain

 
Traffic backs up on Gandy Blvd. in Tampa between the Selmon Expressway and Gandy Bridge during the evening rush hour, February 2015.
Traffic backs up on Gandy Blvd. in Tampa between the Selmon Expressway and Gandy Bridge during the evening rush hour, February 2015.
Published Nov. 10, 2015

TAMPA — A plan to ask voters to approve a half-cent sales tax that would bring relief to Hillsborough County's beleaguered transportation system survived a critical vote Thursday.

Yet the future of the initiative remains uncertain as some politicians continue to question its merits.

The Policy Leadership Group — a gathering of elected county and city officials that have spent two years addressing the county's ever-growing transportation concerns — voted Thursday to endorse a half-cent sales tax referendum that would go on the 2016 ballot.

"This is our only option," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said. "We're not going to get out of this transportation ditch piecemealing this thing."

That option is a scaled back version of the full-cent plan leaders were considering earlier this year, which would have paid for premium transit projects such as light rail, new express and rapid bus transit routes and nearly $400 million in road expansion projects.

The half-cent, by comparison, will last for 30 years and generate $117.5 million annually for transportation. It would provide enough money to pay for road improvements while clearing a $750 million backlog of maintenance issues. It could also help launch at least one transit system that would connect downtown Tampa to Tampa International Airport and expand the hours and frequency of the existing bus system.

But before that referendum will go to voters in 2016, first it has to garner four out of seven votes from the Hillsborough County Commission. That will be the next battleground.

Commissioners Sandy Murman and Stacy White are staunchly opposed to putting a sales tax on the ballot. White opposes any tax increase. Murman's opposition to the referendum was tied to her own transportation plan, which she revealed the day before Thursday's meeting.

Murman denied that she drafted her plan in an attempt to derail the referendum.

"I believe we need action now," Murman said. "I put this plan forward for conversation. I didn't put it to subterfuge anything."

Commissioners Kevin Beckner, Ken Hagan and Les Miller say a referendum is the only solution that allows the county to pay for its mounting transportation needs.

Beckner went so far as to say what the county really needed was the full-cent plan — an option abandoned over the last few months as commissioners grew wary of opposition from anti-tax and anti-transit foes.

In between the two camps are Commissioners Victor Crist and Al Higginbotham.

Crist voted to support the policy leadership group's recommendation Thursday. But he said he still has a lot of questions he wants answered before deciding whether or not he'll vote as a commissioner to put the plan on the 2016 ballot.

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"My district is tricky. I don't believe they'll vote for a tax," Crist said. "But I just might be willing to give them the chance to make that decision themselves."

Higginbotham said he appreciated that this plan, unlike the failed 2010 referendum, will allow each municipality to spend its share of the money on projects that are important to those residents.

However, though he supported the half-cent plan, he said he could not vote for it Thursday "out of nothing more than protest" because of recent allegations.

In September, critics questioned the propriety of the $1.35 million planning and outreach contract awarded to consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff because it hired public relations consultant Beth Leytham to help with the outreach effort, called Go Hillsborough.

The controversy caused the commission to back away from its own transportation initiative and any sales tax referendum. County Administrator Mike Merrill then asked the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to investigate any legal and ethical issues surrounding the contract. The Sheriff's Office said Thursday there is no timetable to finish the inquiry.

However, despite the leadership group's vote to support the half-cent sales tax, Murman said she still intends to bring up her alternate plan again when the County Commission votes, which could happen in December.

"We have voted to move the half-cent sales tax forward and you're still proposing that you bring your plan forward?" Miller said at the end of the meeting.

"I want it discussed at the county commission," she said. "Absolutely."

Murman's plan looks to combine funds from five sources — a gas tax, mobility fees, a trust fund for transportation based on new growth, money from the recent BP oil spill settlement and contingency reserves — instead of asking voters to approve a sales tax.

White voiced his support for Murman's plan, but not all of her funding choices. But other commissioners criticized Murman's plan for its use of county reserves and non-recurring funds.

"You're digging a deep, deep hole that future county commissioners would have a real problem trying to fund," Miller said.

Others, such as Beckner and Buckhorn, questioned whether Murman's alternative provided any relief for the areas outside of the unincorporated county.

Murman also said that the real decision rested with the County Commission — which some interpreted as dismissing the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City from the debate.

"I want to make sure whatever route we're taking does not shut out our partners or exclude them or provide such little revenue that they can't make meaningful impacts within their own jurisdictions," Beckner said.

While all three city mayors showed strong support for the sales tax, ultimately it is up to the County Commission to decide whether or not to put the initiative on the November 2016 ballot.

"To not have the city's destiny in our hands and have to rely on others to give us the tools to affect our future is really, really frustrating," Buckhorn said before Thursday's meeting.

"Our future is tied to the vote of the County Commission . . . I would hope that the other members of the County Commission will stand strong."

Staff writers Sue Carlton and Steve Contorno contributed to this report. Contact Caitlin Johnston at cjohnston@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3401. Follow @cljohnst.