{"id":381274,"date":"2026-08-26T03:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T03:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381274\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T03:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T03:12:14","slug":"pinellas-county-considers-price-hike-for-parking-at-popular-beach-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381274\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinellas County considers price hike for parking at popular beach parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Proposal \"Proposal Proposal for beach parking fee increase<\/a> <\/p>\n

Could it be another hit to the wallet? Parking at popular beach parks in Pinellas County could soon get a lot more expensive. FOX 13’s Blake DeVine reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Parking at some of Pinellas County’s<\/a> most popular beach parks could soon cost more as local leaders consider a new fee structure.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County beach parking <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Pinellas County Commissioners are considering replacing the current $6 daily parking fee with a $3.50 hourly rate at Fort De Soto, Sand Key and Fred Howard Parks.<\/p>\n

Under the hourly proposal, a short visit could cost less than it does today. Without a cap, however, someone spending eight hours at the beach could pay $28.<\/p>\n

County Commissioners have discussed a $15 daily maximum.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The proposal goes beyond daily beach parking. County leaders are also considering higher fees for boat-ramp parking and annual passes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The county currently charges $75, plus tax, for an annual beach parking pass covering the three parks. A combined annual pass for boat-ramp access and beach parking costs $110, plus tax.<\/p>\n

Local budget impact <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

Taken together, the proposed fee increases are expected to generate nearly $2.8 million in additional annual revenue.<\/p>\n

These increases are part of ongoing discussions over Pinellas County<\/a>‘s fiscal 2027 budget. Local leaders are also preparing for a November property tax vote that could reduce revenue countywide by $122 million.<\/p>\n

\"\" Official explanation <\/p>\n

The other side:<\/p>\n

Commissioner Brian Scott says they\u2019re exploring ways to address budget shortfalls while avoiding property tax increases.<\/p>\n

“We hadn\u2019t adjusted the rates in about 20 years,” Scott said. “We’re really long overdue, and we’re quite honestly trying to solve some budget shortfalls.”<\/p>\n

Visitor reactions <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

This potential price hike for parking has caused concern for frequent visitors, including 16-year-old fisherman Braden Marsh.<\/p>\n

“For six bucks, it’s pretty nice to come out here,” he said. “I admit that it’s good that they’d be getting a little more funding, but I guess we’d have to see it implemented first.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Marsh says higher costs could affect the number of visitors.<\/p>\n

“I think people may not visit as much, he said.<\/p>\n

Current status <\/p>\n

What we don’t know:<\/p>\n

For now, officials have not finalized any changes, and parking at the three beach parks remains $6 per day. Commissioners have not yet voted on the proposal, and any rate increase requires official approval.<\/p>\n

Upcoming schedule <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The Pinellas County<\/a> Commission will hold another budget work session on September 3. Following that, public hearings are scheduled for September 10 and September 24.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story came from statements from Pinellas County, interviews with a Pinellas County Commissioner and beachgoers along with previous reporting on FOX 13.<\/p>\n

Pinellas County<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposal for beach parking fee increase Could it be another hit to the wallet? Parking at popular beach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,1157,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-381274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}