Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 4-15-22

Hillsborough County
Public Hearing On 1% Transportation System Sales Surtax
On Wednesday, April 20, at 6 P. M., the Hills- borough County Board of County Commission (BOCC) will host a pub- lic hearing at Frederick B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 2nd Floor, regarding the One Percent (1%) Trans- portation System Sales
Surtax Ordinance.
If you would like to at-
tend or speak virtually on the one percent (1%) Trans- portation System Sales Sur- tax Ordinance, you may do so by filling out this form 48 hours prior to the meeting: https://hcflgov.form- stack.com/forms/bocc_t ransportation_surtax_p
COMMISSIONER GWEN MYERS
ublic_hearing
You can sign-up to speak virtually or in-person by using this link until 9 A. M. on the day of the meeting. You may also sign up in-per- son on the day of the public hearing in the lobby of the Frederick B. Karl County Center.
The purpose of this pub- lic hearing is to hear from you, the public, regarding the County’s consideration of enacting an ordinance generally providing a refer- endum, to levy a one percent (1%) Transportation System Sales Surtax. If the refer- enced ordinance is enacted, tax collections would begin on January 1, 2023 with a total FY 23 revenue being anticipated at $252,000,000.
“I cannot stress enough to you the enormous impor- tance of the County enacting this one percent (1%) Trans- portation System Sales Sur- tax. Hillsborough County has dire transportation needs and currently lacks the financial flexibility to contend with an already large backlog of necessary infrastructure projects. As approved by the BOCC, 54.5% of the collected funds would be distributed to the County and the municipali- ties of Plant City, Tampa, and Temple Terrace, 45% would be distributed to Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), and .5% would be distrib-
uted to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, d/b/a Hillsborough Trans- portation Planning Organi- zation (TPO)”, says Commissioner Gwen Myers.
“There’s no shortage of shovel-ready projects to fund, staff from local govern- ment (City of Plant City, City of Tampa, City of Temple Terrace, HART, and the TPO) have drawn up exten- sive lists calling for hundreds of millions of dollars to resurface roads, repair bridges, add length to turn lanes, improve intersections, upgrade traffic signals, build bike paths and sidewalks, complete heavy mainte- nance buildings, enhance bus shelters, implement new technologies, among other work. Taxpayers would see their money put to work on improvements that are tan- gible and offer quick relief.
“In an economy reeling from the Coronavirus pan- demic, higher gas prices, and a war, the spending would amount to a local stimulus, creating jobs, generating ad- ditional taxes, and churning millions of dollars across the region”, says Commis- sioner Myers.
“The BOCC’s Transporta- tion System is lost without a new revenue source, which would imperil the region’s ability to attract industry, residents, and matching Federal transportation dol- lars,” she concluded.
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022