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Bill Varian

Bill Varian

Staff Writer, Tampa Bay Times

Bill Varian writes about Hillsborough County government and politics. He joined the Times in 1999 as a crime reporter in Citrus County after five years of writing about growth-related issues and city hall for the Tallahassee Democrat. A 1990 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., he also has worked at newspapers in Augusta, Ga., and Burlington, N.C.

varian@tampabay.com

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Latest Fact-Checks By Bill Varian

Clear
Sam Rashid
Sam Rashid
stated on July 26, 2010 in a mailer.:
The sales tax increase, if approved, will cost taxpayers "up to $300 million per year, in perpetuity, to finance a rail system for the City of Tampa."
Mostly False
By Bill Varian • August 28, 2010
Josh Burgin
Josh Burgin
stated on August 20, 2010 in a mailer.:
Property taxes "are now 18% higher than when (Mark Sharpe) first took office." 
False
By Bill Varian • August 20, 2010
Mark Sharpe
Mark Sharpe
stated on July 20, 2010 a campaign mailer:
"Mark Sharpe has lowered property taxes by 17 percent."
Mostly False
By Bill Varian • August 19, 2010
David Caton
David Caton
stated on November 5, 2009 a mass e-mail:
If voters agree in November to approve a one-cent sales tax increase, that will give "Hillsborough County the highest sales tax of all Florida counties."
True
By Bill Varian • June 7, 2010
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