Hillsborough County transportation tax settlement payments begin with more than 400K claims filed
TAMPA, Fla. - Payments for the Hillsborough County Sales Tax settlement began going out last week, with more than 400,000 claims filed.
The payments will be sent to those who filed claims and who lived in Hillsborough County from January 1, 2019, to March 15, 2021.
RELATED: Hillsborough commissioners approve first set of projects using transportation tax funds
Why you should care:
Hillsborough Commissioner Joshua Wostal pointed out the envelopes could be mistaken for junk mail, but urged recipients to double-check each envelope with a PO Box in Richmond, VA and that had a return address labeled, "Hillsborough County Surtax Settlement Program."
"It does look fake, they're from out-of-state," said Wostal, "but we have verified with the state elected officials that it is the legitimate business and that is your money."
Approved claimants will get a piece of $180 million approved by the legislature after the Florida Supreme Court ruled the transit tax surcharge to be unconstitutional because – in their view – the referendum overstepped the role of the county commission.
The backstory:
State lawmakers ordered $250 million of what had been collected to be used for road projects in the county.
"We're not going to have fancy trains that no one's going to ride, and we're going to pay for trains, but we're going to have good quality roads," said Wostal.
Those who filed all of their sales tax receipts from the time the tax was in effect will get all of their penny surcharges back, while most will get up to $100, depending on how long they lived in the county.
The other side:
Tampa's former Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who was in office when voters first approved the referendum 57% to 43%, said the pennies coming back ring hollow.
PREVIOUS: Hillsborough residents could be eligible for refund stemming from defunct transportation sales tax
"I don't know anybody who wouldn't give back that $40 for a transportation solution that was paid for," he said. "This community decided for itself that we were willing to invest in that infrastructure future. They overturned it. We are set back 20 years."
The first checks started going out last week, while others are still being evaluated by the claims company.
"I'm not getting it back, because I didn't file," Buckhorn said, "I was so mad."
What's next:
In addition to the checks and the road projects in the county, some of the money will go towards legal fees and a temporary sales tax holiday. It is now too late to file as all the claims had to be in at the end of December.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank.
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