ST. PETE. Fla. — Residents have the chance Monday night to weigh in on what they would like to see prioritized in the city’s FY 2027 budget.

What You Need To Know

Residents will have three minutes each to share their budget priorities with the mayor and city officials on Monday

Once budget is drafted by the mayor and city staff, two public hearings will be held in September

St. Pete’s Budget Open House begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall

In January, city staff said St. Pete faces a $17.87 million preliminary budget gap

The city of St. Pete’s Budget Open House begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 175 5th St. N. St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch will speak on his priorities for next year’s budget and then residents will have three minutes each to share their thoughts with both Welch and city officials.

St. Pete City Council Member Corey Givens Jr. said this is a great opportunity for residents to talk about their hopes for the budget before anything is set in stone.

“Not everybody is going to get what they want,” he said. “This is an opportunity for the residents to come to engage with city council members. Unfortunately, we will not be able to respond to them, but they can make their requests known.”

Welch outlined five categories that are his priorities for the FY 2027 budget. They include: education and youth opportunities, equitable arts and business opportunities, neighborhood health and safety, housing opportunities for all, and environment, infrastructure and resiliency projects.

Following Monday’s Budget Open House, Welch will continue to work with city staff to come up with a draft budget. Once created, two public hearings will be held in September before the final version gets presented to and approved by city council.

Givens Jr. said he supported prioritizing stormwater improvements, sewage system upgrades, affordable housing and funding for public safety.

St. Pete resident Marley Price said her biggest priority for the city budget is environmental spending.

“I would like to be able to see the city invest more in the root causes of those things,” she said. “We’re spending massively on the defense for trying to keep up with these climate change impacts when we can’t actually deal with spending on the root cause.”

In January, city staff told council members that St. Pete had a $17.87 million preliminary budget gap. An update is expected on that figure on Monday.