GOP commissioners halt Hillsborough vote on tax for schools

The Hillsborough Commission has swung back into Republican control, and Commissioner Joshua Wostal is already flexing his renewed muscle.

Why it matters: Wostal, backed by his GOP colleagues, stalled a ballot referendum that would've given Hillsborough's sprawling school district the means to raise teacher salaries.

• His move tees up a legal battle with the school district.

State of play: The commission's new makeup is a fresh face on an old GOP agenda.

• Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Republican hopeful Christine Miller last month to replace Michael Owen , whose resignation had created a short-lived deadlock on the commission.
• Miller's first vote on Wednesday is a sign that she intends to fill Owen's former role on the commission: a reliable vote for fiscal conservatism and Wostal's priorities.

The big picture: Republicans wrested control of Hillsborough County from Democrats in 2022, and have leveraged that power to torpedo Pride commendations , slash affordable housing programs and more .

Zoom in: If voters had approved the tax referendum, the school district would have raked in nearly $200 million, with 90% of the funds earmarked for teacher salaries.

• There are about 500 classroom vacancies in Hillsborough County, and teachers in Florida are among the lowest-paid in the U.S.

Friction point: The school district's referendum had long attracted ire from Republicans, who cited it as a reason for slashing the funding schools received from the commission under its half-cent tax.

• The Hillsborough Commission slashed the school district's share of the tax from 25% to 5% a year, a loss of tens of millions each year that it used to build new schools and maintain existing facilities.
• Superintendent Van Ayres said in March that "the school district cannot build schools fast enough , and we continue to have unfunded capital needs ... in Plant City" — which Miller represents.

Meanwhile, Republican commissioners supported an estimated $110 million investment in two new sports facilities earlier this year.

What they're saying: "It is an unprecedented and devastating blow to schools that would have never happened under a Democratic majority," Commissioner Pat Kemp (D) tells Axios.

• The vote will punish "our schools for decades to come."