St. Pete property tax being considered to pay for $614M in stormwater, wastewater infrastructure upgrades

Stormwater upgrades in St. Pete

St. Pete city council members heard an option to pay for infrastructure projects that would help with flooding and other issues, but voters would decide if property owners should pay for it. Briona Arradondo reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Pete city council members heard an option to pay for infrastructure projects that would help with flooding and other issues, but voters would decide if property owners should pay for it.

What we know:

"We've seen issues during the hurricanes with toilets not flushing, things like that. We need to make sure that those things aren't happening in the future," said Richie Floyd, St Pete’s city council member for District 8.

READ: St. Pete aims to make Southwest Water Reclamation Facility more resilient ahead of future storms

Floyd was among the committee members who heard city officials lay out a plan on Thursday for $614 million dollars in stormwater and wastewater projects, and how to pay for it over five years.

"The plan's just getting started, but we're having a discussion at City Hall right now about issuing bonds to fund infrastructure and paying for them by doing a referendum that would put it on property taxes instead of utility rates," said Floyd.

How to pay for the projects would be up to voters in November 2026, but work wouldn’t start until 2027.

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"There are no guarantees that that is going to pass. And if that is all we are waiting on to accelerate these projects, and then it doesn’t pass, what do we do then? We’re now out of options," said St. Pete City Councilmember Brandi Gabbard of District 2 during the meeting.

What they're saying:

For some areas of St. Petersburg, it doesn’t take much to flood.

"When it's high tide, water comes into our streets. So that has to stop. It's called sunny day flooding," said Kevin Batdorf, a Shore Acres resident and president of the Shore Acres Civic Association.

Shore Acres is a neighborhood in the St. Pete area that constantly deals with drainage problems and flooding, and residents have been vocal about wanting to see changes to infrastructure there.

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"Hurricane Helene gave the rest of the city the perspective that we see," said Batdorf.

Batdorf is one of many locals who want to see the city’s infrastructure become more resilient. He wants to see action sooner.

"If this bond issue does go to a referendum, I would like to see projects that are planned and shovel ready prior to that election," said Batdorf. "I don't know that I can support it otherwise, because the city just drags their feet too long and by the time a project comes up for construction, the cost of it is doubled, tripled."

Big picture view:

Paying more is never popular, so equity is in the conversation.

"There are many property owners who own luxury apartment buildings, commercial developments that don't live here, don't contribute to our society. And we'll be putting the burden more heavily on them than on renters that live here," said Floyd.

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Floyd said using property taxes helps spread the burden versus raising utility bills. But, he said the plan is just one of several ways the city is looking to pay for what’s needed.

What's next:

In the meantime, city officials said they’re using what they have now to move forward with other projects. City council also brought up accelerating priority projects with the plan. Councilmembers will discuss it again in another committee meeting in the coming months.