St. Petersburg will keep its property tax rate unchanged for another year, after City Council gave final approval to a 6.4525-mill rate as part of the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget.
Council approved the rate 6-2 during its final budget hearing Sept. 17, with Council members Corey Givens Jr. and Gina Driscoll voting against it. Both also opposed the accompanying $1.02 billion operating budget.
The vote makes final a rate council tentatively approved earlier this month and keeps the city levy at 6.4525 mills. That amounts to $6.4525 in city property taxes for every $1,000 of taxable value.
Keeping the rate flat, however, does not keep the city’s property tax collections flat.
The city’s rolled-back rate, which would generate roughly the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year after accounting for changes in taxable property values, is 6.3854 mills. The adopted rate is about 1.05% higher.
St. Petersburg expects to collect about $14.8 million more in ad valorem revenue than it did this year. The additional revenue comes as property values and the city’s overall tax base continue to grow.
Givens and Driscoll were not available for comment before publication about their votes against the final rate.
In July, Givens questioned why the city was not reducing its millage rate as property values increased. City administrators responded that hurricane recovery and other financial pressures left little room to reduce revenue.
St. Petersburg officials were weighing whether it should use its growing tax base to reduce the rate paid by property owners earlier this month before tentatively retaining 6.4525 mills. Because the rate exceeds the rolled-back rate, Florida law requires a two-thirds vote of the governing body to adopt it.
The final budget includes about $1.02 billion in operating spending, a roughly 4.25% increase from the current fiscal year. The General Fund totals about $437.3 million, with public safety accounting for approximately $240.9 million, or 55%.
Police spending is expected to reach about $185.8 million, an increase of roughly $11.5 million, while Fire Rescue will receive approximately $55.1 million. City officials have attributed some of those increases to contracted raises for police officers and firefighters, six additional sworn Fire Rescue positions and rising costs under existing agreements.
The property tax rate applies only to the city portion of a homeowner’s bill. Pinellas County, the school district and other taxing authorities establish their own millage rates separately.
The city’s budget discussion also comes with uncertainty over how much property tax revenue St. Petersburg could collect in future years.
Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz said during the final hearing that a proposed expansion of Florida’s homestead exemption could reduce St. Petersburg property tax revenue by about $34.6 million in fiscal year 2028, according to state estimates cited by the city. That change would require voter approval.
Council separately approved the city’s five-year, roughly $1.19 billion capital improvement program by a 7-1 vote, with Driscoll opposed.
The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.