‘It’s not right’: Hillsborough school board sues commission over tax measure

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Hillsborough County Superintendent Van Ayres took legal action against the Hillsborough County Commission amid a fight over a proposed property tax increase to help fund teacher salaries.

The school board voted to move forward with the effort during a special meeting Tuesday.

After the meeting, school leaders announced that they had formally filed a lawsuit.

The legal action comes after an unexpected move by the commission last week, when commissioners decided in a 4-3 vote to postpone a property tax increase that was supposed to be on the upcoming November ballot.

Commissioners instead voted to move the millage referendum to the 2026 ballot.

School leaders estimated that the one mill tax increase — $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value — would have generated $177 million for teacher pay.

School leaders said the money is critical to retain and hire teachers as the district faces a shortage of 500 teachers.

District 7 commissioner Joshua Wostal said the move is meant to protect taxpayers at a time when they’re dealing with record inflation.

“When you’re talking about potentially pricing a senior citizen out of their home. Well, lord willing, we’ll all be senior citizens one day and I hope that people consider me when I get to that point,” Wostal said. “We’re quite confident that the legislature was clear in empowering the county commissioners with the right to determine when the time is right for this to be on the ballot, and that’s what we’ve done.”

On Tuesday, the Hillsborough County School Board voted 4-3 to approve Ayres’ plan to ask a judge to order the commission to put the millage initiative back on the ballot.

“We’ve asked to expedite this process and and I’m confident that we will get this settled in a timely manner, and it will be on the ballot,” Ayres said. “It’s not right. They cannot take away the authority of our school board as elected officials and that’s what they’re attempting to do.”

The deadline to submit ballot items for the General Election is Aug. 20.

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