EMERSON v. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

No. SC19-1250 No. SC19-1343.

312 So.3d 451 (2021)

Robert EMERSON, et al., Appellants. v. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Florida, etc., et al., Appellees. Stacy White, Appellant. v. Hillsborough County, Florida, etc., et al., Appellees.

Supreme Court of Florida.

February 25, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Howard C. Coker and Chelsea R. Harris of Coker Law, Jacksonville, Florida; and Derek T. Ho and Collin R. White of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C., Washington, District of Columbia, for Appellant Robert Emerson.

Chris W. Altenbernd of Banker Lopez Gassler P.A., Tampa, Florida, for Appellant Stacy White.

Raoul G. Cantero , David P. Draigh , W. Dylan Fay , and Zachary Dickens of White & Case LLP, Miami, Florida; and Benjamin H. Hill , Robert A. Shimberg , and J. Logan Murphy of Hill Ward & Henderson, P.A., Tampa, Florida, for Appellees Tyler Hudson, Keep Hillsborough Moving, Inc., and All for Transportation.

Alan S. Zimmet , Nikki C. Day , and Elizabeth W. Neiberger of Bryant Miller Olive, P.A., Tampa, Florida; George S. LeMieux , Kenneth B. Bell , and Lauren Vickroy Purdy of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and David Harvey , Office of the City Attorney, Tampa, Florida, for Appellees Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization, and City of Tampa.

Harry M. Cohen , Legal Counsel, Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Tampa, Florida, for Appellee Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Kenneth W. Buchman , City Attorney, Plant City, Florida, for Appellee City of Plant City.

David L. Smith , Robert E. Johnson , and Julia C. Mandell of GrayRobinson, P.A., Tampa, Florida, and Kristie Hatcher-Bolin of GrayRobinson, P.A., Lakeland, Florida, for Appellee Hillsborough Transit Authority.

Andrew H. Warren , State Attorney, and Ada Carmona , Assistant State Attorney, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Tampa, Florida, for Appellee State of Florida.

Daniel J. Woodring of the Woodring Law Firm, Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus Curiae Associated Industries of Florida.

Daniel Bell , General Counsel, and W. Jordan Jones , Staff Attorney, House Judiciary Committee, Tallahassee, Florida; and Jeremiah Hawkes , General Counsel, and Ashley Istler , Deputy General Counsel, The Florida Senate, Tallahassee, Florida, for Amici Curiae Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate.

Diane G. DeWolf and Katherine E. Giddings of Akerman LLP, Tallahassee, Florida, and Marilyn Mullen Healy of Akerman LLP, Tampa, Florida, for Amici Curiae the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Tampa Bay Partnership, and the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation.


In these consolidated cases we consider the constitutional validity of an amendment to the Hillsborough County Charter that was adopted in an initiative election. Through that charter amendment the voters approved both a transportation surtax and elaborate directives for allocating the tax proceeds. But the spending directives are unconstitutional...

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