Hillsborough County Blows Through All Its Skyrocketing Growth Revenues, Increases County Bureaucracy by 61%

Guest post by Dr. Jim Davison 

Hillsborough County citizens are well acquainted with this time of year as being the start of hurricane season in Florida. It starts every year on June the 1st. We are given estimates of how many and how intense the storms will be. We are urged to get our homes ready and to prepare in case one of these natural disasters hits the area. All good advice.

Beginning about one month before hurricane season there is another season that starts every year. One that can be costly and deadly to taxpayers and it is man-made. 

It is the “Budget Season” for local municipalities and the County. 

The "Budget Season" is a closely choreographed period-of-time. Like clockwork, the Hillsborough County Administrator Bonnie Wise kicked off the Fiscal Year 2024 season at a BOCC workshop on May 10, 2023. No public comment was allowed.

Property Tax Revenues Increase 15.3% But Hillsborough County Refuses to Prioritize Funding Roads....Again

Hillsborough County's budget is an abomination and taxpayers in Hillsborough County should be revolting. 

For the last 15 years, Hillsborough County has refused to properly prioritize road funding, a primary responsibility of local government. Roads are Hillsborough County's largest asset but the County continues to neglect to appropriately maintaining and improving them. 

That must change with the FY24 budget. Taxpayers must demand property tax revenues be used to fund roads and transportation.

Give Hillsborough County a $570M Sales Tax Holiday, Do Not Reward Any Wrong-doers

It's way beyond time for Hillsborough County taxpayers to get back the $570M of illegal All for Transportation (AFT) tax dollars unlawfully taken from them. It's been over two years since the Florida Supreme Court ruled that AFT was unlawful in February 2021.  

Finally, House Bill 7063 (starting at line 893) provides a final remedy to the big legal mess AFT created. HB7063 includes a provision for a sales tax holiday to be implemented when a final adjudication has been made that a local sales tax referendum is ruled unlawful and illegal. 

In 2024 Defeating Biden and Preserving Our Republic Flows Thru PA, WI, MI, GA and AZ

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin's words are as relevant or perhaps more so today as they were in 1787.  

When Governor DeSantis, Congresswoman Laurel Lee and Congressman Byron Donalds spoke at Hillsborough County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner last Friday night, they lit up the packed room. Each of them lit the room on fire about what our country is facing to keep our Republic. 

Some HART Board Members To Blame Too As Report Exposes HART Run Amuck On Their Watch: HART CEO Suspended With Pay But FL Inspector General Must Now Investigate HART!

At a special HART Board meeting on Monday, a damning report was presented from the investigation of HART CEO Adelee Le Grand. The report provided evidence of HART being run amuck by Le Grand.

As a result, the HART Board suspended Le Grand with pay until she has an opportunity to respond in May and a final decision about her will be made.

Be Skeptical Of Bills Filed For A "Study" When HART Must First Be Investigated and Audited

HART transit agency is a fiscal and operational mess going insolvent next year. Before all the issues with HART can be fixed, we need to know what they all are and who caused them.

HART needs to be investigated and the last 10 years of its operations audited by Florida's Inspector General. 

We applaud the State Legislature for eliminating TBARTA. But we have concerns whether they are eliminating TBARTA to create another regional transit agency. 

HART's CEO Adelee Le Grand Wants to Flee Fiscally Failing HART With Big Payout and Demands Report From Investigation of Her Be Concealed

So much smoke has been blowing around HART, that in November last year the HART Board authorized an external investigation of their CEO.

Now HART's CEO Adelee LeGrand, the one being investigated, wants to resign from HART. She wants to flee fiscally failing HART with a big payout and demands that any report from the investigation of her never sees the light of day.