05/09/2025
HART is the most underfunded transit system for a metro area of our size, anywhere in the nation. It is miserably underfunded, even compared to any of the transit systems in Florida. That needs to change.
Sign the petition. Contact HART board members. Show up.
Sign here: bit.ly/hartcharter
From Transit Now Tampa Bay: This coming Monday, May 5, the HART Board is voting to update its charter, which controls how much it can receive in funding.
We must tell HART Board members to vote "YES" and, for the first time since 1979, allow the potential of a slight millage increase to fund HART's extremely underfunded vital services. This vote will simply update the charter language to allow up to 1 mill to be collected on ad valorem taxes (rather than the current half-mill).
>> Without this step, we will not have the opportunity again to even consider this vital path towards securing desperately needed funding for HART. They must update the charter to allow for a future ballot measure so our voices can be HEARD.
>> If we don't secure a dedicated funding source for HART, we will see another round of drastic funding cuts--meaning layoffs, wage cuts, route cuts, and more--to HART's service in 2028.
>> It is the HART Board's duty to provide public transportation for the citizens of Hillsborough County. By not allowing this increase, which is necessary to meet the county's public transit needs, the HART Board will be failing in its duties and responsibilities to the people who need and rely on public transit services provided by HART in Hillsborough County!
Please sign and share far and wide, and remember to sign up to speak on Monday if you can! More info on how to sign up to give a 3 minute public comment at the HART Board meeting event page: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AcwmtgmXu/