The Community Investment Tax (CIT), a modest half-percent sales tax introduced to Hillsborough County voters back in the autumn of '96—think baggy jeans and the Spice Girls topping the charts—has been the silent booster behind many infrastructure developments in the county including Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace. The CIT, according to Hillsborough County's official website, is on the clock until November 30, 2026, and the ticking is audible.
A look over its 28-year history paints a picture of substantial impact: specifically, about $2.3 billion directed toward an eclectic mix of 757 capital improvement projects, these include a smattering of 17 fire stations, 115 roads, 258 parks and recreation developments, alongside 27 law enforcement and courts enhancements, the needs were pressing and the community's rapid growth in the 90s didn't make things any easier with a nearly $1 billion wish list of unfunded capital needs for unincorporated Hillsborough County alone standing unaddressed
It's not just about buildings and roads, either: 68 intersections got a redo, 32 bridges received extra tender love and care, and when the skies open up, 126 stormwater projects keep things afloat in more ways than one. Those in need of getting from A to B without losing the plot on packed buses or cursed intersections might tip their hat to the CIT for 42 public utilities projects and the walkable city dream is on the horizon with 13 sidewalk expansions. And in a nod to culture, the CIT also funded 12 arts and culture projects; The list is long, and the impacts—like the perennial utility of a good sidewalk—are palpably concrete.
The CIT didn't just throw cash at the wind hoping for the best, it meticulously carved up the pie: pre-approved project lists were offered up for voter consideration, full transparency was the order of the day, and the outcome? 53 percent voter approval, depicted by a ballot language which might as well have been an early Christmas list for public infrastructure enthusiasts, promising "finance infrastructure for jails, police and Sheriff's equipment, fire stations, emergency vehicles, school construction, a community stadium, transportation improvements, libraries, parks, trails, stormwater improvements, and public facilities."
Among the CIT's crowning achievements is Raymond James Stadium, where the echoes of roaring crowds and the clash of athletes vying for glory finds a home, demonstrating that this tax was more than a ledger entry; it was a commitment to communal spaces that thrum with the pulse of Hillsborough County's daily life not to mention an anchor for memory-making and community-binding. Hillsborough County's report reveals the depth of CIT's reach, playing a part in what makes the county tick, from the mundane to the monumental.
