As of Friday morning, about $3,000 had been raised to move the Confederate statue off Hillsborough County property.

  • Statue to be moved to Brandon Family Cemetery
  • Tampa lawyer raising funds to pay for move
  • Community can donate through GoFundMe page

The Confederate monument, which currently stands outside the old Hillsborough County courthouse, has been the centerpiece of a contentious debate for weeks. Commissioners recently voted 4-2 to move the statue to the Brandon Family Cemetery.
 
Tampa lawyer Tom Scarritt offered to help raise the money for that move.  He has set up a GoFundMe page called "Tampa Statue Relocation Fund" to collect donations as part of a community-wide fundraising effort.
 
"I want people to think of it as a nonpartisan issue," Scarritt said. "We had a conflict. We've come to a compromise."
 
Scarritt admitted it's a challenge, because the county doesn't have an exact price tag yet on how much it will cost to move the statue.
 
"They put it in the $90-100,000 dollar range," Scarritt said. "That's without maintenance expenses -- it could be upwards of $150 thousand."
 
In addition to the GoFundMe site, Scarritt said he plans to reach out to all the sports teams in the Bay area, as well as pastors and synagogues. Scarritt also plans to email the United Daughters of The Confederacy, who originally donated the statue, to see if they can pitch in on the move.
 
The County administrator warned that if enough money isn't raised from the community, taxpayers could foot the difference.
 
Scarritt said the community can donate through the GoFundMe page or just send donations to the Scarritt Law Group's office on Swann Avenue in Hyde Park.