OLDSMAR — The city council tackled education, housing and infrastructure issues Dec. 2, approving measures that could reshape how children attend school and developers build affordable housing.

The council unanimously approved a request asking the Pinellas County School Board to study expanding Oldsmar Elementary into a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus. It also opted out of a state affordable housing tax exemption and restructured a multimillion-dollar federal resistance grant.

The education measure addresses the city’s lack of a middle school, which forces students in grades sixth through eighth to travel outside Oldsmar.

The resolution asks the district to evaluate whether a K-8 model would work, offering students continuity, reducing transportation burdens and strengthening neighborhood ties to the school.

Mayor Katie Gannon said she hopes to hold a town hall in early 2026 so ““parents, teachers, everybody can have an opportunity to ask important questions. How’s this going to logistically work? What does this mean for Forest Lakes, what does this mean for transportation, what does this mean for our electives? All those questions that I’d like to have answered to see if this can be more than an idea.”

Vice Mayor Steve Graber stressed the resolution isn’t a final decision but a formal request for the district to “evaluate and consider the feasibility, community benefits, and operational requirements” of expanding the school.

“I think that’s important for the public to understand where we are in the process,” Graber said. “This is just making that request and putting our support behind it.”

Housing

The council also addressed a complex piece of state housing legislation.

City Manager Felicia Donnelly introduced a resolution formalizing the city’s decision to opt out of a property tax exemption created by the Live Local Act.

The act established a “missing middle” property tax exemption for affordable housing developments, providing a 75% tax break for units serving households earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income and a 100% exemption for units below 80% of the median.

House Bill 7073, passed during the 2024 legislative session’s tax package, let local taxing authorities opt out of the 75% exemption tier for the 80 to 120% income range if they meet strict statistical and administrative criteria.

The primary hurdle requires cities to be in counties where the number of affordable and available units for households at or below 120% of the median income exceeds the number of households at that income level, according to the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies’ annual report. Pinellas County cities meet that threshold.

The unanimous vote makes Oldsmar one of the jurisdictions choosing not to offer the 75% tax break to housing developers catering to the higher end of the affordable income spectrum. Properties previously approved for the exemption will continue receiving it. The resolution takes effect Jan. 1.

Infrastructure

The council also amended a Florida Department of Environmental Protection grant funding construction of the Water Reclamation Facility Control Building.

Supported by a $2.15 million grant awarded in 2021, the $6.5 million project will enhance

infrastructure resiliency by elevating the wastewater treatment process’s core electric and system controls to a second floor, protecting them from flooding and sea level rise.

Under the original agreement, the work was divided into multiple subtasks, with the grant set to expire before construction was finished. That threatened the city’s ability to receive reimbursement.

Consolidating the subtasks into a single construction task, the amendment granted a time extension and allowed the city to be reimbursed for completed work before final project sign-off.

City officials said the change ensures Oldsmar can collect the full $2.15 million in state funds.

Council members approved the amendment unanimously.