The final public hearing on the transit-tax referendum will be next month. Then Hillsborough County Commissioners will officially vote on whether it should go on the November ballot. Until then, apparently, Commissioner Jim Norman will rail on. He recently noted at a workshop that his fellow (majority) commissioners were “out of touch” and a “laughingstock” for even considering such a referendum during a down economy.
Let’s see if we have this straight. Surely, the commissioner isn’t saying, in effect: “When in doubt, or certainly when in a recession, we can’t chance letting the people have a say where their taxes are involved. As for the region’s future economic viability and all that, we’ll have to let that ride for now. It’s no time to get all visionary. Let’s concentrate on worrying about the economy.”
Surely.