A state appeals court ruled Monday that the Hillsborough County Commission does not have the authority to decide whether to put a tax referendum for the county’s school system on the ballot this fall.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeals affirmed a district judge’s decision in a case brought by the Hillsborough County School Board against the county commission.

The school board had decided in April to ask voters on the Nov. 5 ballot to pass a property tax measure that would provide additional money to the system. But in July, the county commission said it had the authority to decide when the referendum should go to the ballot, suggesting that could be in 2026, according to Monday’s decision.

A district judge ruled that the school board had the authority to decide when to put the proposition before voters and that the commission’s role in calling the election was a ministerial one. The appeals court agreed, citing a state law and saying, “Interpreting the law as giving county commissions discretion to set the election date would give county commissions the ability to undermine the school board’s authority to levy additional tax rates and the school board’s control over the content” of the ballot proposition.

“To prove this, one need only look at the facts of this case,” said Monday’s decision, which was shared by judges Nelly Khouzam, Anthony Black and Suzanne Labrit.

“Here, the school board exercised its taxing authority and control over the content of the ballot measure. That measure specifically provided that the tax would be levied from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2029. By refusing to call the election as ordered by the school board, the county commissioners effectively overrode the school board’s decision regarding the dates on which the tax would be levied and its control over the wording of the measure.”