Pinellas County leaders consider funding cuts for Weedon Island, Shell Key preserves

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Two of Pinellas County’s most prominent nature preserves could soon lose county funding as local officials work to close a $42 million budget gap for the upcoming fiscal year.

Pinellas County preserve funding

What we know:

Parks and Conservation Resources Director Paul Cozzie said in a recent email to stakeholders of Weedon Island and Shell Key Preserves they don’t "propose these reductions lightly." He says the cuts, though, would decrease the budget by about $847,000.

Proposed cuts include eliminating funding for the Weedon Island Preserve and its Cultural and Natural History Center and Shell Key Preserve starting January 1, 2027. Cozzie wrote in the email that they’re choosing to prioritize property owned by the county over state-owned land.

The county maintains and operates both Weedon Island and Shell Key, but the state owns the land and has leased it to Pinellas since 1995. If the budget is approved, the leases with the state would end and the land would be returned to the state. 

Cozzie wrote that departments county-wide have to make hard decisions due to "new state-imposed financial burden," like required increases to the pension funds for public safety and law enforcement officers. 

Local budget decision impact

What they're saying:

Commissioners Tuesday echoed Cozzie, saying the state continues to give them unfunded mandates, and local governments are forced to cut money in their budgets to pick up the tab.

"They provide virtually very little funding of their own for their own state parks," Chairman Dave Eggers of the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners said. "So, we've taken that on behalf of the state. We love that park. So, people that are listening in and have talked to us, that's not a park that we're targeting to get rid of [Weedon Island]."

"What we're trying to do is move all the pieces around so that we can maximize what is due us. These unfunded mandates, they may be philosophically right. It's just important that people understand where all these monies go, and because of the stress and pressures of this budget year and the anticipation of next year, these things, we just need to all be talking about it and where the dollars fall," he said.

Cozzie said they’d move staff affected, about seven positions, to other jobs within the department or somewhere else in county government. He said his department is also proposing ending the lifeguard programs at Fort De Soto and Sand Key Parks. 

According to Cozzie, the budget cuts are unrelated to the property tax amendment on November’s ballot.

The other side:

When asked what they’d do if the budget passes, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sent the following statement: 

"Weedon Island Preserve and Shell Key Preserve are located on properties that are owned by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida (Board of Trustees) and are currently leased to Pinellas County. If Pinellas County requests a release from their lease, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of State Lands, as staff to the Board of Trustees, would seek to identify another entity to continue managing the properties for conservation and public outdoor recreation purposes."

What's next:

Public hearings and commissioners’ final vote on the budget are set for September.

Pinellas CountyEnvironment