St. Petersburg mayoral debate: Ken Welch and Charlie Crist face off Tuesday

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and his challenger Charlie Crist will face off Tuesday night in a debate, ahead of Election Day.

St. Petersburg mayor debate tonight

What we know:

Incumbent Mayor Ken Welch and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist are set to debate Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a televised event ahead of the upcoming election.

In August, Crist beat Welch by about 14% of the vote in the primary election, forcing a runoff.

Property tax reform proposals

The backstory:

Both candidates previously sat down for one-on-one interviews with FOX 13's political editor Craig Patrick to discuss major city issues, including Flock cameras, data centers, the future of the Historic Gas Plant District, and property tax reform.

They discussed Amendment 3, which appears on the ballot in three weeks and aims to cut property taxes statewide.

Mayor Welch warned that the amendment would cause a $35 million budget deficit for the city in its first year and $50 million in its second year.

"When you take into account that all of our property taxes don't even pay for police and fire, so all of those dollars go to police and the fire," Welch said. "If you're going to cut that by $35,000,000, then you're going to cut potentially police and fire, but other things that folks ask us for every year - arts funding, complete streets, housing, homeless programs, mental health."

To offset losses, Welch said they would have to explore alternative revenue options, such as a fire fee.

Welch also answered questions about automated license plate readers, like Flock cameras, which have caused an uproar of privacy concerns around the country.

Recently, the FDOT ordered all ALPRs on state roads to be removed. But St. Pete said it would keep 44 cameras on city roads.

"It's not tracking an individual, it's tracking a license plate, and you know, the decision we'll have to make as a community is, do we have sufficient guard rails around that, just like when we give an officer a gun, I mean that's the right to take a life," he said. "Do we have sufficient training, guardrails, protections around that to allow that to continue to be used? So that's a conversation we'll have to have."

Budget cuts and staff reductions

The other side:

If Amendment 3 doesn't pass, Crist wants to take a different approach to tax reform. During his one-on-one interview, he proposed a 0.4 mil reduction in property taxes if Amendment 3 fails, which would still require trimming the city's budget.

"Number one, I would look at what's happening in the administration currently in St. Petersburg, if I have the honor of winning the office in about 25 days or so," Crist said. "I think you'll see less staffers at city hall. I think we need to tighten our belt. You know, these are kinds of things that I have done previously as Governor."

When discussing the controversy surrounding license plate readers, Crist talked about a possible moratorium on the technology.

"I think what we need to do is have a pause, as I have suggested as it relates to that privacy issue for our citizens, and see and work with law enforcement to make sure that they can ensure us that they're only going to be used to keep us safe, and they're not going to be used by some of their employees in an inappropriate fashion," he said.

Debate streaming and video details

What's next:

The televised one-hour debate airs Tuesday at 7 p.m.