There are lots of cultural differences between Tampa and the larger outlying areas that encompass Hillsborough County. One of those fissures until recently was gay rights. Whereas the city itself had a robust LGBT community and representatives who treated that community with respect, the County Commission voted on policies that discriminated against gays, until they reversed some of those votes in the past two years.
Another issue where the county and city residents diverge in their interests is on transportation. And there lies the challenge that County Administrator Mike Merrill and everyone else associated with trying to get a transportation tax passed in 2016 face.
In June, the Hillsborough Policy Leadership Group unveiled their plans for a transportation tax that leaned heavily on roads more than transit, and would take in less money than expected by only asking county voters to finance a half-cent sales tax.
But significant pushback to that plan caused Merrill to put the full-cent sales tax on the measure, and opinions about that are now being received by Hillsborough County officials at a whole new batch of public meetings that began last week and will go through October.
At the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa on Monday night, 21 people attended a meeting that was similar in terms of presentation as dozens that were held this spring: there were 17 different easels with information about road, bridge and transit projects, and five different maps of the county showing where these projects would run through.
Bob Clifford with Parsons Brinckerhoff, the transpiration consultant company that the county is paying more than a million dollars to conduct such outreach, was on hand to offer information to those who inquired. There were a handful of other county officials on the premises as well.
“I thought this would be a little bit more educational,” said Tampa resident Jill McSpadden, regarding the open format.”Maybe like a commissioner telling you what they want to do, but I mean this is what I’m really here for, so this took less time, which is good,” she said while laughing. McSpadden took considerable time to fill out a worksheet which asks citizens if they agree or not with the list of projects to be funded from the sales tax, should the county move toward a 1 percent funding strategy, and how to improve the lists.
“What we’re showing people is there’s quite a bit you can do with a half-cent vs. a full cent,” said Clifford. “We also want to ask are there other projects here that should be considered as part of a half or a full-cent?”
If the half-cent tax were to be passed, it would create $117.5 million annually and $3.5 billion over 30 years. A full cent would obviously double that, to $235 million annually and $7 billion overall.
There were several people in attendance who had biked to the library, such as Tampa Heights resident Alana Braiser said she was disappointed to learn that separated bike paths can’t be funded through the tax.
Having voted for the Moving Hillsborough Forward one-cent sales tax measure that failed in 2010, Braiser says she understands why the plan is heavier on road construction than transit.
“We do need better surfaces for our roads, considering all the rain we’ve gotten and all the potholes we have, so I know it’s a balancing act and there’s no magic wand where everybody’s going to be 100 percent pleased, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction,” she says of the plans laid out right now.
Braiser says she’s ambivalent about the higher tax.” I would support a full cent. I’m kind of torn by that, I just don’t know,” she says, worried that a full-cent might not get full buy in from county residents.
Tom Lewis is like some Tampa residents in that they equate the Florida Department of Transportation’s controversial Tampa Bay Express toll lanes project with the Go Hillsborough plan.
“They couldn’t pass the one-cent (tax) before so I don’t know what makes them think they’re going to accomplish it now,” he says. “I absolutely supported the transportation tax in 2010. There’s two separate plans in my opinion and they’re working at cross purposes from each other,” he says, referring to the TBX plan that was approved by the Hillsborough County MPO earlier this month.
McSpadden also mentioned the TBX project.
“I don’t think that’s really good,” she says. “It’s not going to solve any problems, and it’s going to affect Seminole Heights area, which it already has in the past. So residents around there are pretty unhappy.”
When asked about the half-cent vs. full-cent question, she cites not only 2010 but last year’s Greenlight Pinellas debacle as proof that a one-cent tax hasn’t worked yet in the Tampa Bay area when it comes to supporting a transportation plan.
Tampa resident Micah Johnson moved from Minneapolis a year ago, when he couldn’t handle another bitter winter. He says that with the extreme temperatures in Minnesota, he thought the infrastructure would be in better shape in Tampa.
“I was wrong,” he laughed. He extolled the virtues of a light-rail system that was constructed in Minnesota in the past decade. “I’m just trying to get more information about the project.”
The public meetings – 64 in all – are scheduled to continue until October 15. For more information, go to the GoHillsborough website.
