While everyone is on
lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic crisis, Hillsborough County Commission
Chair Les Miller astonishingly displays where his priorities lie.
Due to the Coronavirus
pandemic, Miller had cancelled the April 1 public hearing about putting another
All for Transportation (AFT) $16 BILLION rail tax hike on the November ballot.
Miller had scheduled the April 1 public hearing weeks ago that now seem like an
eternity ago.
With little notice at 7:51 AM this morning,
the county sends an email announcing a "SPECIAL MEETING" scheduled
for tomorrow at 1:30pm. The meeting notice to discuss rescheduling the public
hearing for putting the AFT 2.0 $16 Billion tax hike on the ballot was sent out
to the public about 30 hours before tomorrow's meeting.
It is disgusting that
the AFT 2.0 transit tax hike is Miller's priority while the residents and
business of Hillsborough County are suffering.
Miller had scheduled
the 30 year rail tax hike public hearing originally for April Fools Day. He now wants to
reschedule it for April 15 - what is known as TAX DAY.
Miller's AFT 2.0
massive rail tax forces county taxpayers to hand the HART transit agency 40%
(approximately $6.5 BILLION) to fund costly trains and transit in the city of
Tampa. Less than 2% use transit in Hillsborough, but Miller wants to force us
out of the safety and security of our cars and vehicles and onto transit. At
the same time Miller's AFT 2.0 rail tax dedicates ZERO funding for much needed
new road capacity in Hillsborough County - for 30 long years.
Transit is a
petri-dish for spreading germs. Hillsborough County's emergency order advised
residents to avoid public transit. The use of public transit in New York is
believed to help cause the intense spread of the Coronavirus in New York City.
The Special Meeting
tomorrow will be held virtually. Follow the instructions in the Special
Meeting Agenda to make a public comment. Or
contact all the county commissioners here.
Tell the commissioners
to stop pursuing putting another $16 Billion transit tax hike on the November
ballot at this time of crisis. The commissioners must stop trying to pick the
pockets of suffering taxpayers and businesses.
The commissioners must
first focus on the Coronavirus and economic crisis at hand. They must reassess
the county budget which has been impacted. Priorities will change. It is
outrageous the commissioners would pursue a massive tax hike when the public
has been told nothing and there is still so much uncertainty.
While the public
worries about keeping their jobs, paying their mortgage, worrying about their
family members and staying healthy, Miller's priority is another $16 Billion
rail tax hike on the November ballot. That is simply wrong!
With little public
notice, exploiting an opportunity to put another $16 Billion rail tax on the
ballot while the public is suffering and not able to be fully engaged is
shameful.
Posted by Sharon Calvert at 6:42 PM
This
post is contributed by EYE ON TAMPA BAY. The views expressed in this post are
the blog publisher's and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher of
Bay Post Internet.
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