HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Local transportation leaders held a press conference Wednesday calling for a "more equitable" process to refund the more than $500 million the county has already collected from its "unconstitutional" 1-percent transportation sales tax raise.
In November 2018, Hillsborough voters approved the 30-year, one-cent increase in the county's sales tax to specifically pay for transportation improvement. Then, in December of that year, Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White filed a lawsuit challenging that tax.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled in February the tax was unconstitutional because it specifies where the money should go – responsibility justices said falls on elected commissioners, not citizens.
A motion recently filed in court by attorneys representing Hillsborough County government agencies proposes people wanting a refund would have to submit a claim to the Hillsborough County Circuit Court. The document adds that a three-judge panel would also have to be established to oversee the reimbursements.
And while the attorneys argue the procedure would "allow refunds to be sought and determined in an effective and expeditious manner, with minimal burden and no cost to taxpayers, as well as the judicial system," other local transportation leaders disagree.
"The funds belong to the residents and businesses of Hillsborough County who paid in and relief must be remedied in a simpler, fairer and most equitable way," Fix Our Roads First wrote.
The group, joined by several others, spoke out against the decisions made regarding the funds they say were illegally collected.
Fix Our Roads First is calling for the funds to be returned in one of two ways. The first would be through automatically rebating the funds to all who contributed, while the other seeks to establish a county-wide sales tax holiday until the owed funds are depleted.
White joined the gathering Wednesday and had this to say about the County's proposed plan:
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll reiterate, that the process proposed looks an awful lot like it was designed to return as little money to the taxpayers as possible. Frankly, as proposed, it looks like a money grab from our local governments and agencies, which is a shame to see. I firmly believe that the parties in possession of these funds should not be charge of the plan to return them to the taxpayers.”
Representatives from All For Transportation have said they expect to get a new referendum on the 2022 ballot.
RELATED: Hillsborough County to refund money raised from 'unconstitutional' sales tax for transportation
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