St. Pete Budget, Tax Rate Approved

After around five hours of discussions, amendments, public comments and "whining" about Mayor Bill Foster's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget, city council voted 5-3 to adopt Foster's budget as submitted. 

The vote was the first of two for the proposed budget and millage rate. The second vote and final public hearing on the budget will be Sept. 26. 

In Foster's proposal, the millage rate itself decreases from 6.7742 to 6.770 mills. However, because the millage rate is 3.67 percent higher than the roll back rate, St. Pete property owners will likely pay higher property taxes next year. 

A roll back rate is what the millage rate would need to be in order for the city to generate the same revenue as it did the year prior. 

"Although our city economy is improving, we must still be cautious in the expenditure of our limited resources. We will continue to live by the words spoken by Benjamin Franklin more than two hundred years ago, when he said, 'if you watch the pennies the dollars will take care of themselves,'" Foster said in his budget memo. "My recommended budget, with its proposed amendments, watches the pennies while maintaining service levels, investment in public safety and quality of life issues." 

The proposed general fund for 2014 is $212,143,141 with the total tentative budget at $473,178,748. 

Foster said he is excited about this year's budget because it is the first time since he's been mayor that property values are up. It will also be the first time he can give a general wage increase to city employees, he said. 

At heart of the council's issues with administration's budget was the lack of funding for areas that they say continually are underfunded: Neighborhoods, youth employment programs, public safety, parks and rec and business corridors. 

Several amendments to the budget, ranging from $100,000 - $372,000, to to address those areas failed. 

Council member Jeff Danner said council was trying to plug holes to larger problems that stem from a lack of leadership, a lack of vision for St. Petersburg. 

He said it's tiring to hold budget priority workshops only to have those priorities not funded when the budget is formally proposed. 

Council chair Karl Nurse said for years now, council holds workshops and meetings to give input on the budget and for years they have been ignored. 

"What I find so frustrating, what we say is most important is jobs and neighborhoods and we have a devil of a time increasing investment in either of those," Nurse said.    

Foster fired back at criticisms of the line-item projects not in the budget, calling a scaled back budget the "new normal."

"These numbers are the reality," Foster said. "You can point figures all you want, you can make campaign speeches and you know what, the numbers don’t lie."

He said just because revenues are on the rise does not mean spending should instantly increase as well. 

The Sept. 26 public budget hearing begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.