Mass Transit Tax Rolls On

Coming Soon to Tampa?

It's been talked about for decades, and it looks like Hillsborough County voters will finally get a chance to decide if they want to tax themselves to build a new mass transit system. County Commissioners split a 5-2 vote to draw up a resolution for their December meeting to place a one-cent sales tax on the 2010 ballot.

At stake would be a complete overhaul of the county bus system, as well as the region's first light rail line. Three-quarters of the sales tax would go to transit projects. Of that, a little more than a third would pay for the rail line. The first two spurs would connect USF's Tampa campus, downtown Tampa and the Westshore Business District. The light rail line is getting most of the publicity - and is already the target of naysayers.