Here in Hillsborough County, we pay the 3^rd highest taxes in the state—and if the current county commissioners have their way, we’ll be paying the highest taxes of all 67 counties in the entire state next year.

The county maxes their property tax levy every single year. They impose 3 separate gas taxes. They charge the highest sales tax levy in the state. They just increased our water bills by 4%. They’re even taxing us to pay for medical care for those under a certain wage bracket when we can’t even afford our own medical care. And of course they want to continue the Community Investment Tax (CIT) that is set to expire in 2026.

Nowhere is the county’s addiction to tax hikes more outrageous than the additional 1% transit tax the county illegally imposed in 2018 to pay for infrastructure in Tampa, despite the fact that only 26% of the county’s population lives in the city. The Florida Supreme Court struck down the tax as unconstitutional in 2021, yet here we are a year later and the county still hasn’t refunded the $521 million they illegally collected from taxpayers. In fact, they’re desperately searching for workarounds so they can keep and spend the money.

These tax hikes hurt working families and seniors throughout the county. Seniors on fixed incomes are being taxed out of their homes. Families already living paycheck-to-paycheck are now struggling to get by. Young couples aren’t able to afford to begin their families. Entrepreneurs can’t start their own businesses. Poverty is increasing in the county. Residents are going across county lines to buy homes and make purchases. All this, and we aren’t even fixing our roads.

It’s time we stood up to a government that clearly does not care about working families in our county.

As your county commissioner, I will demand our tax dollars be used as they were intended—to fix our infrastructure. I will ensure all county residents benefit from the taxes we pay, not just city residents. And I will shine a light on wasteful spending so we can responsibly lower taxes.

This will let our residents keep more of their hard-earned money to spend as they see fit. It will help families thrive. It will help people create generational wealth through buying a home rather than having to rent. And it will help lift the working poor out of poverty and give them opportunities to lead their family to the middle class and beyond.