Hillsborough County Public Schools is asking voters to renew its half-penny sales tax for another 10 years, and the pitch includes a number likely to catch taxpayers’ attention: the district has already spent more than $1.326 billion from the same tax since voters first approved it in 2018.

The renewal referendum will appear on the November ballot. If approved, the tax would keep pulling in an estimated $121 million to $131 million a year, adding roughly $86 annually to the bill of the average Hillsborough household — money that would flow straight into district coffers for another decade, through 2039.

District officials say the tax has funded air-conditioning replacements, roof renovations, athletic facilities, playgrounds and security upgrades, and they argue the timing of the vote matters. Chris Farkas, who represented the district at a virtual town hall this week, said major capital projects take two to three years to plan and design, and waiting until the current tax expires in 2028 would leave a gap in the district’s ability to spend money it doesn’t yet have.

In other words: the district wants voters to sign off on new revenue years before the current revenue stream even runs dry.

The first in-person town hall was held Tuesday night at Newsome High School, with more scheduled at Gaither High School on Sept. 29 and Hillsborough High School on Oct. 1, plus virtual sessions. The district says groceries and prescription drugs remain exempt, and only the first $5,000 of any large purchase would be taxed — carve-outs meant to soften the hit, though the tax still applies to nearly everything else Hillsborough residents buy.

Not everyone at Tuesday’s meeting left convinced. David and Laura Allen showed up with a simple question: how has the district actually spent the money it already has? “The main thing we want to make sure is that tax dollars aren’t being misused,” David Allen said. He told reporters the meeting left him feeling somewhat better informed — though he still hadn’t committed to a yes vote.

That kind of skepticism cuts to the heart of the district’s challenge. Hillsborough County Public Schools is asking residents to trust it with another 10 years and well over a billion dollars in future revenue, based largely on the district’s own accounting of how the last round of money was spent — figures that, as with most government self-reporting, voters have no independent way to verify before they head to the polls.

Gianny Hunt, president of the advocacy group Magnified Voices, has come out in support of the renewal, pointing to completed projects at schools including Chamberlain High School as evidence the tax has delivered results.

The district will continue holding town halls through mid-October as it makes its case, with the referendum question set to appear on the November ballot alongside other measures Hillsborough voters will decide this fall.

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