Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article on transportation:
On eve of Hillsborough transportation vote, deep divisions and new plan surface
Thursday, June 9, 2016 8:10am
TAMPA — On the eve of another transportation vote, Hillsborough County commissioners made this much clear on Wednesday: They are as divided as ever on how to pay for transportation needs, and the issue will not be resolved anytime soon.
Supporters of a half-cent sales tax hike hoped that Wednesday’s commission workshop would eliminate any lingering doubt that a tax increase for 15 or more years is still the best way to pay for road work and transit projects.
That didn’t happen. Instead, when today’s public hearing and vote starts at 6 p.m., the commissioners will enter the room without a consensus.
Adding to the confusion was another last-minute alternative proposal from Commissioner Sandy Murman to pay for existing and future transportation needs entirely with growth in the county’s sales and property tax revenues. It’s the second time in seven months that she has dropped a new plan just hours before a big vote.
Some commissioners wondered aloud whether they needed more time to consider Murman’s latest proposal and delay today’s scheduled hearing.
That didn’t sit well with Commissioner Ken Hagan.
“This proposal strikes me as nothing but a shell game,” he said.
The lack of consensus means commissioners could — for the second time in two months — leave a public hearing to raise the sales tax without the four votes needed to send it to a referendum, to let voters decide in November. The first time was on April 27, when the commission rejected 20- and 30-year half-cent sales tax plans by a vote of 4-3.
The commission is sharply divided into two camps: those who back a sales tax hike to pay for transportation and those who think it can be paid for with growth in the tax base.
The former had their case bolstered Wednesday by county staff and consultants, who said property tax revenues are unreliable for major transportation projects because they dip and dive with the economy and will be viewed unfavorably for federal grants.
Murman doubted that. Her goal, she said, was to get two transportation trust funds off the ground: one for unincorporated Hillsborough and one countywide. Then they could go back to voters in a few years after the county has finished a planned transit study and a review of whether to buy CSX lines for conversion into a commuter rail system.
“Get the funding stream moving forward and then we can really go big when this study is done,” she said.
Commissioner Les Miller, though, warned that dedicating future growth to one priority will cannibalize the rest of the budget and other services at a time when the county’s population is on the rise.
“That’s a major, major problem,” he said.
City of Tampa officials added that if the county goes down that road, it will be leaving the three cities — Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City — out to dry. All three jurisdictions, plus the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, would automatically receive a portion of any new sales tax revenue.
But there’s no guarantee they would get anything under proposals tied to growth.
