UPDATE: Consent Agenda Items to Hand Tampa Focused Organizations County Transportation Tax Dollars Were Removed From Today's BOCC Meeting

This is an update to our previous post Hillsborough County Using Consent Agenda to Hand Tampa Focused Organizations County Transportation Tax Dollars

Some concerned citizens contacted commissioners requesting the 3 Consent Agenda items be removed from the Consent Agenda. They also raised their objections to the County handing out taxpayer funds to these organizations.

Kudos to Commissioner White who yesterday asked for the items to be removed from the Consent Agenda so each can be discussed transparently and voted on separately.

Apparently after White's request was made, the Westshore Alliance, the wealthiest district in the Hillsborough County, suddenly decided they did not need the taxpayer funds. The Consent Agenda item handing County transportation tax dollars to the Alliance was deleted from today's agenda. 

Interestingly, the other two Consent Agenda items to hand County transportation tax dollars to the Tampa Downtown Partnership and USF's New North Transportation Alliance (NNTA) were taken off today's agenda. 

These agenda items were moved to the June 15th County commission meeting.

The County must put these items on the June 15 Regular agenda to be openly discussed and separately voted on not rubber stamped thru the Consent Agenda.

We will be watching.

Something Smells: AFT, Surrounded by Lawyers, Rammed Illegal Rail Tax Onto Ballot Creating Legal Mess Dumpster Fire, Tampa-Centric Five Pushes AFT Rail Tax 2.0

The public and voters of Hillsborough County must never forget that All for Transportation Transit (AFT) caused a dumpster fire legal mess. AFT's dumpster fire resulted in over a HALF A BILLION dollars being unlawfully collected from taxpayers. 

Deconstructing AFT finds the legal mess dumpster fire they created nefarious and foul smelling.

The AFT Cabal Have No Shame: They Took Your Money Unlawfully, Want to Keep As Much Of The Illegal Tax Monies As Possible and Start Taking More

Those Who Lose Do Not Get to Choose - Winning Side Gets to Decide

The Refund Process 

The All For Transportation (AFT) cabal is a political clique of wealthy special interests, influential power brokers, political insiders, unethical bureaucrats, "friendly" media, and transit activists, who privately schemed to deceive voters in 2018. After losing the AFT lawsuit, the cabal is now scheming to try to keep as much of the illegally collected AFT tax monies as possible...as they push AFT 2.0 for 2022. 

Hillsborough County Commissioners: Rebate Illegal AFT Transit Tax with one Hand, Start Launch of AFT 2.0 Transit Tax Hike with Other Hand

 NoTaxForTracks (NTFT) issued a statement last week after the Florida Supreme Court threw out the unconstitutional and unlawful All for Transportation (AFT) transit tax hike in its entirety. NTFT requested that the AFT transit tax dollars illegally collected be given back to the residents of Hillsborough County.  

About $502 Million has been collected since January 1, 2019. The Florida Supreme Court did not issue a remedy for disposition of those funds. Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission agreed with NTFT and voted 6-0 to refund the hundreds of millions of AFT dollars back to their constituents. 

The commissioners did that because of what came next. Immediately after voting to refund the unlawfully taken AFT transit tax dollars, the county commissioners voted to start the process for putting AFT 2.0 on the 2022 ballot. 

Hillsborough County Commissioner White Responds With Facts to Tampa Bay Times Attack

Reprinting Hillsborough County commissioner Stacy White response to a recent Tampa Bay Times editorial:

After reading the Tampa Bay Times’ Feb. 23 editorial, “Leading the way on transportation,'' I was struck by how it seemed long on rhetoric but short on facts. As a commissioner who was mentioned by name, allow me to present some further comments and provide the facts surrounding the “back-up” tax plan.

The voters of the county deserve to know the structural details of this “back-up” plan, which, outside of our Board of County Commissioners meetings, have not been comprehensively discussed. As an elected official, I firmly believe the voters of this county are more than capable of analyzing the facts and making a decision on whether this is a roads investment or a mass transit investment, but they need to see the entire picture.

Much like the previous surtax, 40 cents and 1 cent of every dollar of this tax levy, respectively, would go to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization, with the remaining portion split between unincorporated Hillsborough County and the three cities according to a population-based formula. Accordingly, there would be – at most – 44 cents of every dollar spent on roads capacity projects (i.e., road widening or building new roads) that benefit unincorporated Hillsborough County.

The plan allows the commission to allocate more of its share than the dedicated 40 cents of every dollar to HART. The commission could also spend a portion of its share on things like road resurfacing, bicycle lanes and sidewalks. This means that it’s possible for unincorporated Hillsborough County to receive less than 44 cents of every dollar for added road capacity. If this tax is viewed as an investment, that’s a return on investment of 44 cents on the dollar for road capacity projects in unincorporated Hillsborough County – and potentially much lower.

Plant City residents would see little more than 1 cent of every dollar of this tax go toward transportation projects within their city. That’s not a penny of every dollar spent by taxpayers, but a penny of every dollar of the tax placed into the government coffers. That equates to paying the tax on two $50 restaurant tabs for Plant City residents to see just 1 cent spent on projects in their city. It’s also important to note that Plant City does not participate in HART and, therefore, does not receive services from HART. Unless this is changed before the election, it would be unfair to definitively tell Plant City residents they will receive services from HART.

The crux of this is whether the plan is a roads investment or a mass transit investment, and, if the latter – does this mass transit investment go from Lutz to Fort Lonesome? If the citizens of this county are presented with a lawful referendum this November and express that they are happy with the returns on investment listed above by passing it, then so be it. But the citizens should be armed with the objective facts, fair and square.

Stacy R. White is a Hillsborough County commissioner representing District 4, which is comprised of east and south Hillsborough County.

Breaking News: Commissioner White Has Appealed All for Transportation Ruling

Breaking News from the Eye: Just this morning, Commissioner White appealed the All for Transportation ruling to the Florida Supreme Court.

There are now two appeals, one from the class action lawsuit filed yesterday and one from Commissioner White, to the Florida Supreme Court related to the All for Transportation transit (AFT) tax.

Judge Barbas threw out all of AFT's spending allocations, mandates and constraints as unlawful and illegal. He somehow left the tax itself standing and now there are 2 appeals on his ruling.

Stay tune for the latest as we learn more.

Rewarding the Big Mess Makers

A judge threw out most of the All for Transportation (AFT) transit tax as illegal and unlawful. 

Rewarding All For Transportation who subjected voters to a legally flawed 30 year $16 Billion transit tax last year is unacceptable. 

But Hillsborough County Democrat commissioners Les Miller and his 3 Democrat colleagues decided to reward those who ran amok of State Statutes to get their $16 Billion transit tax passed. 

Defects Keep Swirling Around All For Transportation Tax and Court Ruling

As we posted here, Judge Barbas gutted the illegal All for Transportation (AFT) tax hike charter amendment. Barbas threw out all of AFT's illegal spending appropriations, illegal prohibitions on funding new roads and other illegal regulations they tried to force on the taxpayers of Hillsborough County.

In addition, according to this Florida Politics article, Commissioner Stacy White filed a motion to remove the sentence that required the AFT sales tax to be distributed to the County and municipalities based on their population.

“...any such allocation should be based on the actual transportation needs of the municipality, not on arbitrary, fixed percentages that were created to serve an entirely different tax with entirely different goals.”

White's motion also requests a final judgement be made which then enables an appeal to either the Supreme Court or the Second District Court of Appeals.

What's Next?

Now that much of the mandated spending constraints All For Transportation tax hike have been found unconstitutional, all the media, business elites, politicians and proponents that were so wrong about the legal issues, are pushing hard to reinstate the "will of the people".

Judge Rex Barbas summary judgement, while preserving the tax, makes it clear why so much of the AFT charter amendment was unconstitutional.

The Honorable Rex M. Barbas

But that's not slowing down AFT and the "mix of interest groups."

All for Transportation's Pervasive Dishonesty

All for Transportation (AFT) has been dishonest from the start. They tried to create a false narrative last June that their tax hike ballot initiative was a "grassroots" initiative launched by everyday citizens.

That was quickly debunked.

Five special interests donors, including Jeff Vinik, Frank Morsani, Vinik's Water Street construction company Coastal Construction, Tampa Bay Partnership and Sykes Enterprises donated $150K each to get AFT's tax hike on the ballot.

The AFT tax hike initiative was a totally paid professional campaign job assisted by some political insiders (more to come on that subject).

Legal Questions Remain As County Admits All For Transportation Gave "Oversight" Committee Overreaching Powers

Legal questions remain about who has the "Rightful Authority" to appropriate All for Transportation's $16 Billion tax hike proceeds for 30 years. Now the county and the agencies receiving the tax proceeds are admitting there are big problems with AFT's tax hike charter amendment.

All For Transportation (AFT) touted in their $4 million marketing campaign that the AFT $16 Billion tax hike was keeping "Political Hands" aka duly elected officials out of their tax hike cookie jar. AFT sent thousands of mailers to voters with that message.

All for Transportation Mailer

Amended Complaint Throws Curve Ball to All For Transportation's Tax Hike Mess

As expected, Commissioner Stacy White filed an Amended Complaint on March 22nd challenging the All for Transportation (AFT) 30 year $16 Billion sales tax hike charter amendment.

As baseball season begins, it looks like AFT is thrown a curve ball as White's Amended Complaint brings forth additional information and describes additional issues with the AFT charter amendment.

AFT Train Wreck: Commissioners Sue Their Own Constituents to Take Their Rights Away

The All for Transportation (AFT) tax hike is one big mess.

And the AFT train wreck is getting messier and messier. Six county commissioners are digging a deeper hole by intentionally putting taxpayers at more risk and taking actions that will take away the rights of their own constituents and future commission boards.

Did All for Transportation Unlawfully Appropriate Earmarks for 30 Years?

Earmarks are used to set aside funds for a specific purpose or allocate a specified amount of money for a specific project, program, or organization.

Earmarks in government are often associated with pork barrel spending, hand outs and wasteful spending without due diligence. In government, earmarks are handed out with little to no planning and the general public now has wary eyes on earmarks.

It may be after the election but the big mess All For Transportation (AFT) created is unfolding. While local media continues to ignore what is actually in AFT's charter amendment and all the issues swirling around it, we will continue to expose those issues.

AFT knew their transit tax hike did not fund any existing transportation plan. They knew it because the AFT tax hike is not just a tax hike referendum, it is an appropriations bill full of earmarks.

AFT, a political committee accountable to no one and funded by wealthy special interests, made up their own mandated earmarks with no transparent due diligence, planning or plan.

Confusion Reigns with All for Transportation's Transit Tax Hike

The All for Transportation (AFT) 30 year $16 Billion transit tax hike charter amendment is one big mess. It is 5 pages of misleading spending regulations confusing to all.

Commissioner White's lawsuit is beginning to unravel the big mess AFT created. The unraveling continues as White sheds more light on the big mess at the January 24th BOCC meeting.

Tax Hike Lawsuit Raises Serious Legal Issues That Must Be Resolved

Commissioner Stacy White filed a lawsuit in December against numerous defendants related to All for Transportation's $16 Billion transit tax hike charter amendment challenging the language used in the charter amendment. It is case #18-CA-011749.

AFT, some county commissioners and others who supported the tax hike have called the lawsuit ridiculous, a political stunt and "nonsense".

But their rhetoric may be the "nonsense".

All for Transportation Hires Big Gun Lawyers to Shutdown Lawsuit

All for Transportation (AFT) created the 5 page tax hike charter amendment that led to Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White's lawsuit, case #18-CA-011749. White's legal complaint he filed can be found here.

AFT recently filed to be an "intervener" in White's lawsuit filed against the county and other parties receiving the new tax proceeds. An intervener basically joins the lawsuit and becomes a party in the lawsuit.

Commissioner White States His Frustration with Transportation Amendment

Hillsborough County Commissioner, District 4, Stacy White, held a press conference today, Thursday, October 18, becoming the first elected official to make the thoughtful, logical case against the All For Transportation tax hike. He expressed his frustration with the lack of transparency and impact to his constituents in the fast growing east and south part of the county, who, along with the rest of the suburban and rural county residents, will be expected to pay for nearly half of the transit costs for city of Tampa, while benefiting little in increased road capacity. EyeOnTampaBay.com was at the press conference. Please take a few minute to watch the press conference video, with questions and answers, in full below.

A Victory for Taxpayers - Now County Center Must Commit to Making Board Policy Work

The Eye was at the county commission Transportation Workshop last Wednesday. The video of that meeting can be found on the HTV website by selecting the meeting date August 10, 2016. Everyone should watch it. 

The Workshop was opened for public comment. All but one of the citizens who spoke were supporting Commissioner Murman's proposal for an ordinance to use our growth revenues within our existing budget to fund our roads and transportation.

It has taken years to get here, but finally the county commissioners voted 6-1 (Miller voted no) to pursue a Board policy requiring 1/3 of our new revenue growth to be put aside to fund our roads and transportation. The Board policy language will be brought to the September 8th BOCC meeting for approval. 

While Murman's proposal will be accomplished through a board policy and not an ordinance, this is a seismic shift from where we were a year ago. 

This is a victory for the taxpayers of Hillsborough County.

After Hagan fought the effort with Merrill (watch the video), he ended up voting for the motion. We will watch closely to see if there's an attempt to obstruct the intent of the policy or water it down when the policy is up for Board approval September 8th.

The eventual 6-1 vote is not representative of the discussion that actually occurred at the meeting. Hagan's mocking comments did him no favors but they are recorded for all to see.

County Administrator Mike Merrill brought in the big guns, the county's financial advisor and bond counsel, to provide their comments on Murman's proposal. 

Budget Director Tom Fesler presented an analysis on 10 years of revenue growth, analysis of 1/3 of new revenue growth going to transportation and 10 years of funding analysis. The budget analysis was done based on numerous factors including estimated population growth, estimated inflation rate and estimated growth rate. 

The presentation was flawed, however, as Commissioner Murman pointed out Merrill had left out 20% of the revenues in the analysis. Somehow the Times failed to report that tidbit.

This is the first time we've ever seen such level of analysis during the budget cycle. Unfortunately, too many budgets recommended by Merrill have simply been rubber stamped, no questions asked.

We're a growing county and their doom and gloom attitude towards funding transportation within our existing growing budget was quite astonishing. More astonishing when we continue to watch Merrill pull tens of millions of dollars out of his rabbit's hat to spend on all kinds of other things. 

This behavior is no longer acceptable!

The meeting showcased that County Administrator Mike Merrill and Commissioner Hagan do not want to prioritize our county's budget. 

Neither does the Tampa Bay Times. According to their Sunday Op-Ed, prioritizing our county budget is an "empty gesture".

The county is not creating a new revenue stream for transportation; it's merely raiding money already there.

Their attitude is absurd and out of touch with reality and the electorate today. 

The Tampa Bay Times would better serve their readers if they started questioning the county budget. There are a number of questionable oddities including ghost projects being financed by debt and budgeting for capital projects with no known operating costs. These oddities go against any normal budget process we know and is not good governance. 

The Times should look at past budgets of a decade ago or more ago. They prove that the commissioners will re-align spending to higher priorities, including towards funding our roads and transportation. 

The county commissioners are elected to make tough decisions not rubber stamp unelected bureaucrat Merrill's budget recommendations. If the commissioners can't, won't or refuse to make tough budget decisions that the rest of us must do everyday, they need to find another job.

As we posted previously, 69% of those polled last year during the Go Hillsborough campaign stated the county needs to do a better job spending what we already have. 

How is that done? By prioritizing the budget to fund our highest priorities FIRST.

If the county cannot prioritize it's spending, there's no limit to the expansion of local government and no limit to what the county will spend OUR tax dollars on. 

If the county cannot prioritize its spending, then the county is telling the taxpayers that everything must be a priority. 

No one believes that. 

But we get it. Merrill, Hagan and the Tampa Bay Times want a new baseball stadium and costly trains. They know the county will have to pick our pockets more to get them.

The county was forced to prioritize our budget during the recession. The services that the county cut the most was our transportation funding. They diverted all property taxes that historically always funded our roads to other things when the recession hit. 

However the county refused to re-appropriate those dollars back to transportation as our revenues began going up and up and up.

When forced to, the county had to prioritize. When our revenues are healthily increasing, suddenly the county cannot prioritize. What hogwash!

Requests were repeatedly made by citizens during the budget process over the last few years for the county to fund our roads and transportation. Those requests fell on deaf ears. 

Why? 

Because the tax hike and spenders down at County Center, Mayor Buckhorn, their cronies and special interest backers and our local media (Tampa Bay Times) want another sales tax hike referendum.

According to this recent Tampa Bay Business Journal article, Mayor Buckhorn, wants to get behind a citizen petition led referendum to force a sales tax hike get on the 2018 ballot. 

Buckhorn also stated this in the TBBJ article:

“I would think that if [St. Pete] Mayor [Rick] Kriseman and I had the ability to do that within the municipalities that we could pass it and we could fund the beginnings of a transportation system, particularly rail, that would link downtown St. Pete to downtown Tampa and the airport,” Buckhorn said.

We'd like to see the financial viability of that business case. 

Buckhorn, the mayor of downtown Tampa only, is now living in the twilight zone.

Remember it was Buckhorn on the Tampa City Council back in the 1990's who was the lone NO vote on the Tampa Streetcar. He said it did not have a long term viable business model. And he was right.  

CIT revenues are another local funding source for transportation capital projects. 

Those who continue fretting and lamenting that the county cannot prioritize our budget to fund our roads and transportation know that the CIT tax will come up for reauthorization between now and 2026 when it expires.

It was the county who blew out the entire CIT future revenues for unincorporated Hillsborough. Who recommended doing that in 2007? Commissioner Hagan and then county Finance guy Mike Merrill. 

Talk about actually raiding and financially constraining future county commission boards….Where was the Times back then? Crickets……

That is why we doubt taxpayers will stomach another 30 year tax and believe there should be no attempt to extend the CIT for longer than 10 years. 

The MPO estimates that extending the CIT out to 2040 (14 years), using a 3.58% growth rate, unincorporated Hillsborough would receive over $1.7 BILLION of new revenues. If the CIT was extended for 10 years, the county would probably receive over $1.5 BILLION.

MPO's CIT revenue estimates if extended
from MPO's 2040 LRTP

Before the CIT comes up for reauthorization, the county must prove they are being good stewards of the money they already receive. Trust must be earned back. 

Prioritizing our budget is how to get that done.

This move by the commissioners to fund our roads and transportation FIRST before spending our tax dollars on pork projects, lower priority items, unnecessary spending, subsidizing special interests and wealthy sports team owners is a step in the right direction.

We would have preferred an ordinance but when this Board policy is approved, the commissioners will be put on notice that we will now watch the budget process like a hawk.

The policies of obstruction and failing to start addressing our transportation issue must come to an end. 

Because most importantly, the commissioners must have someone at County Center who is committed to making the Board policy work.

No More Budget Shell Games - Fund our Roads and Transportation Needs Now!

The county commissioners held a Budget Workshop July 28. The Eye was there. The Workshop was opened to public comment and a number of citizens, including myself, requested the county move now on implementing Commissioner Murman's proposal to use the growth revenues in our existing ballooning budget to fund our roads and transportation needs. 

The dynamics of the Budget Workshop was quite telling. Commissioner Hagan kept insinuating cuts would have to be made for such a plan. That is almost laughable. It does prove some commissioners and unelected bureaucrats do not want to prioritize our ballooning budget, unless, of course, it's to fund a new baseball stadium for another wealthy sports team owner.

Everything cannot be a priority. If everything is a priority then nothing is a priority. That is fiscally irresponsible.

Such an attitude is what forces Hillsborough County taxpayers to continue funding pork projects, lower priority items, and subsidize wealthy special interests BEFORE funding our roads and transportation needs.

County Administrator Mike Merrill brought up a concern about our reserves and our AAA credit rating. According to the budget presentation given at the Workshop, the county has been dipping into our reserves the last few years to fund parks, fire stations, service centers, nebulous economic development projects - while holding our road funding hostage.

We do not remember hearing this concern during any of those previous budget cycles. Page 25 of the Recommended FY2017 budget states:

Our reserve funds remain stable, and Hillsborough County remains well positioned to excel in meeting the needs of our residents and our business community. 

So which is it? 

If Merrill is suddenly concerned about our reserves affecting our bond rating, then why did he put the county in such a position to begin with?

Decisions still must be made regarding how the $23 million one-time BP settlement windfall, that has no restrictions on it use, will be spent. Some commissioners want to use the funds for transportation which has the biggest funding gap in our budget. Others prefer the money be used for environmental purposes or for our stormwater infrastructure. 

The FY2017 budget dishonestly includes $30 million of taxpayer money to buy back developer's impact fee credits as "transportation spending". This buy back scheme that benefits developers represents 3/5 of the entire transportation spending for FY2017. That is nonsense. The games being played with our tax dollars must stop.

Merrill is a professional at magically pulling money out of his rabbit hat when he wants to.  

We were at the April 13th Community Transportation Plan and Mobility Fee Workshop where the impact fee buy back program was presented to the county commissioners. Merrill and his staff showed how easy it was to "find" or "reallocate" tens of millions of existing budget dollars to fund this buy back scheme. 

At the same time Merrill and his staff have been telling the public for years there was no money for roads. Outrageous!

The county commissioners need to revisit this impact fee buy back program. Either get rid of it and let the actual free marketplace work or consider using the $23 million one-time BP oil spill money to pay for them so taxpayers aren't on the hook for funding another scheme benefitting special interest developers. 

Then the county can honestly use that $30 million Merrill "found" to fund real transportation projects.

There is another BP oil spill settlement the county expects to receive that will have restrictions on its use while this settlement has no restrictions on its use.

Merrill astonishingly revealed at the Workshop that he can start a procurement process for a project that has not been approved by the commissioners and budgeted for. Perhaps that explains how Parsons Brinckerhoff got their million dollar blank check no bid contract procured so fast for the crony Go Hillsborough campaign. That is not good governance.

We have watched a "go along to get along" county commission for too many years. The commissioners have been led by unelected bureaucrats with little or no questions asked, for way too long. 

It was refreshing to see some commissioners pushing back on the unelected bureaucrat's agenda. Both Commissioners White and Murman are to be commended for their comments and actions taken at the Budget Workshop.

The county should not be addressing flagged items at this Workshop. There has not been one budget public hearing because too much time was wasted on two sales tax hike public hearings. White and Murman want to start addressing our transportation issue now and get to work on actually getting something done. Kudos to them.

The poll done by the Go Hillsborough campaign last April highlighted the issue of trust and confidence for how the county spends what we already have. 

Poll questions regarding trust and current spending
Click to enlarge

County collects enough already – no need to raise taxes – do better job of spending money we already have:  69% agree with 46% strongly agreed

We cannot trust politicians to spend new tax money on transportation problems as they promise – they will divert the money as they did the CIT:  69% agree with 42% strongly agreed  

This should have been a big red flag to the county commissioners. When over 2/3 of voters polled agree there is a lack of trust and there is no need to raise taxes, no sales tax hike was ever going to pass.

The sales tax hike is dead. The rubber has hit the road and we must pursue a new direction. 

Our existing budget cannot be used as a shell game to continue funding everything else under the sun except our roads and transportation, a primary responsibility of local government. 

Thankfully some commissioners understand that and want to move on to Plan B. Other commissioners, addicted to a sales tax hike, appear to be in some kind of denial.

The key to start funding our roads and transportation needs now within our existing growing budget is getting Commissioner Murman's funding proposal approved at the Community Transportation Plan Workshop to be held on August 10th at 1:30pm. 

This meeting will be open for public comment. Weigh in by attending and making a public comment in support of Murman's transportation funding proposal or by emailing the county commissioners here. 

Time to break away from failure.

Time to stop using our budget as a shell game to fund everything under the sun but transportation.

Time for the Chamber of Commerce and our business community to get behind Murman's proposal if they are truly serious about starting to solve our transportation problem. 

Time for our local media to wake up and accurately report what is going on with our county budget because they have been asleep at the wheel. 

Time to put our roads and transportation needs FIRST in our growing budget.

Time for the County to pursue success not failure.

 We demand it!