It’s not easy to outspend the 1%, and there is no way to buy time.
Those two factors have an anti-tax group fighting an uphill battle in an attempt to hinder a proposed 30-year transportation tax in the Tampa area that would raise around $276 million a year if it is approved on the Nov. 6 ballot. Leading the charge for the tax are Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Partnership business group. Called All for Transportation, the group has raised $2.3 million. The anti-tax movement has just a few more weeks to generate enough signatures to put their objection on the ballot. It has raised just $7,600.
Hillsborough County planners believe there is a $4 billion backlog in road, sidewalk and trail projects.
If passed, more than half of the tax, which is expected to generate $8 billion over two decades, would be earmarked for congestion relief, safety improvements, sidewalks and trails, with about 45% going to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority.
