Tampa mayor continues push for proposed tax increase to help improve roads, sidewalks
TAMPA, Fla. - Mayor Jane Castor says it’s time to fix up city roads and add more sidewalks around Tampa, but those improvements will come at a cost to taxpayers.
The bold infrastructure plan would mean about an extra $20 a month for Tampa homeowners, and now, the mayor is trying to sell it to the public.
During a press conference Friday morning, Mayor Castor proposed a tax increase to add more sidewalks throughout Tampa. She believes it’ll make the area more accessible and allow more residents to come and go safely.
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She said there are four top issues every year that need attention, which includes paving, public safety, parks and recreation, and housing. She believes this increase will help with all of that.
The mayor said Tampa is a growing city, and her main concern right now is getting more sidewalks in place.
"I would ask that the community support the increase in our millage, because we will be able to go from providing two and a half mileage of sidewalk in our community, to almost 18 miles," Castor explained Friday.
Sandra Sroka, the former coordinator for Americans with disabilities in Hillsborough County, has been a wheelchair user since the age of three. She supports adding more sidewalks throughout the community.
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Without them, Sroka says the dangers for disabled residents is real.
"There are many many people it is only, not safe and if you’re a wheelchair user, it’s difficult to move around through grass, sometimes it’s dirt, gravel, and rocks and puddles after a rainstorm. It’s difficult to navigate," she said.
Mayor Castor also pointed out a surprising statistic. She said five years ago, one-mile of sidewalk would’ve cost $350,000, but today it will take a whopping $1 million to build it.