TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough residents could see a temporary sales tax holiday later this year as a way to reimburse residents for the transportation sales tax that was ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.

The Florida House Ways and Means Committee approved a plan that would temporarily cut the sales tax by 1% starting Oct. 1.

Under the plan, the tax holiday would last until the nearly $570 million in frozen taxpayer funds are spent.

Several proposals were made earlier this year on what to do with the money. In February, Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for taxpayers to get refunded a portion of the money.

Hillsborough County commissioners then submitted a wish list to the state on what they'd want the leftover funds to be used for. The wish list approved spending most of the money to repair roads, sidewalks and bridges and reduce congestion.

One community leader believes a temporary sales tax holiday is a bad idea.

"I know if you talk to members of the community, they're saying they want that money to go back into our roads," said Sarah Combs, CEO of the University Area Community Development Corporation.

Combs drives through the university area every day and she said the roads are a mess. She believes the money should be used for improving the roadways and not temporarily lowering the sales tax.

"I don't think it's going to be an amount that you're really going to miss," Combs said. "So, I would say that the biggest impact is to fix some of these roads we're having problems with."

The proposal for a temporary tax holiday came from the House Ways and Means Committee.

The Senate will release a tax cut package later this week.

The chambers must agree on a plan to include in the final budget.