Transit Tax Question May Appear On Ballot

Published: Mar 25, 2006

Such a referendum isn't among 20 recommendations unanimously adopted Friday by the citizens group studying county bus service, but it will be part of the report presented to county commissioners April 5.

A referendum question would bring the transit issue back to where it started when the study group was formed in the fall and potentially increase interest in a Hillsborough ballot that also may include a proposal to create a county mayor position.

"I feel this will be looked at outside the mayor discussion," study group member Kathy Harris said. "To me, this all started with [Mayor Pam Iorio's 2005] State of the City address, when she asked for transit to be put on the ballot."

For county leaders, the issue is whether all property owners should pay the same tax rate to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, even though most of the service is in Tampa.

A memorandum released Friday suggests potential ballot language for HARTline to get some of its revenue from an "equitable countywide fee," with additional income from local governments based on transit service in their areas.

If approved by voters, the proposal would require the Florida Legislature to revise state laws that created HARTline, according to the memo from county Managing Attorney Christine M. Beck.

A question that asks whether residents of unincorporated Hillsborough want to remain part of the transit authority and continue paying a half-mill property tax could be placed on the ballot without a change in state law, Beck's memo states.

The HARTline Study Group was created in the fall as a compromise to proceeding with such a ballot question, which was being floated by Commissioners Brian Blair and Ronda Storms.

The commissioners raised the issue because HARTline gets nearly 62 percent of its property tax revenue from outside Tampa and Temple Terrace, but residents of unincorporated areas get about 38 percent of the bus service.

Fast-growing areas outside Tampa are looking for localized "circulator" service and better connections to the city.

The study group drew criticism when it hired former HARTline planner John Dausman as a consultant and excluded city residents from the panel. Tampa lawyer Mary Ann Stiles quit her post as HARTline lobbyist in protest to form a political group trying to put the county mayor proposal on the November ballot through a petition drive.

The mayor proposal would change the county charter and become law if approved by voters.

"I think this is related to what I'm doing, and I think [commissioners] always intended to do this," Stiles said of a potential transit referendum.

The study group's top recommendation is to earmark unincorporated property tax revenue above this year's level to improve bus service in those areas.

The earmark would stay in place until HARTline proves to commissioners it has met the service equality promised to unincorporated residents when they approved the half-mill transit tax in a 1980 referendum.

Another recommendation is for HARTline to seek bids from private companies to provide connecting feeder service from suburban communities to bus routes inside Tampa.

In its draft report, the study group says it doesn't want to reduce bus service in Tampa or cut bus drivers. As with the referendum suggestions, those thoughts are listed as "discussion issues" rather than the 20 formal recommendations.

Blair, who ran the study group, said he wants commissioners to take at least two weeks to review the report before voting on the recommendations or a potential ballot question.