St. Petersburg Government

St. Petersburg has a mayor and council form of government: a mayor elected at large runs the administration, and an eight-member City Council holds the city's legislative powers.

The City Charter makes the mayor the chief administrative official of the city, responsible for administering all city affairs the charter places in the mayor's charge, and it says the mayor is elected at large and is not a member of City Council (St. Petersburg City Charter). City Council is the governing body with all legislative powers, made up of eight members, one elected from each of eight election districts (St. Petersburg City Charter). The charter also bars council members from directing or requesting the appointment or removal of city employees by the mayor or the mayor's subordinates (St. Petersburg City Charter).

Kenneth T. Welch is the mayor, and his Cabinet, which includes the City Administrator, the Assistant City Administrator and administrators over groups of departments, advises him on each department's work (City of St. Petersburg, Mayor's Office). City races are nonpartisan: a candidate cannot be the nominee or representative of any political party (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 Elections).

St. Petersburg is one of 24 municipalities in Pinellas County, and Clearwater is the county seat (Pinellas County, Fast Facts). The city budget funds its own Police Department, Fire Rescue Department and Public Works Administration (City of St. Petersburg, FY27 budget release), while Pinellas County has its own elected Board of County Commissioners with a separate meeting calendar (Pinellas County, Board of County Commissioners).

The St. Petersburg mayor manages the city and can veto ordinances, while City Council passes ordinances and the budget and can override a veto with a two thirds vote of its entire membership.

Under the charter, council may override a mayoral veto by at least two thirds of its entire membership before midnight on the fourteenth day after the veto or before midnight on the day of the next council meeting, whichever comes later; if the override fails, the ordinance has no effect (St. Petersburg City Charter). The City Clerk is appointed by the mayor subject to council confirmation but serves the whole city government, including council (St. Petersburg City Charter). The City Attorney heads the Legal Department and advises the mayor, council and every department (St. Petersburg City Charter).

Both offices are term limited. No one who has served two full successive terms as a council member may be elected to the next council term, and the same two term rule applies to the mayor (St. Petersburg City Charter). Council districts are redrawn from a redistricting report prepared under the mayor's supervision within a year of new census results (St. Petersburg City Charter).

The St. Petersburg mayor's seat and City Council Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 are on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot.

The city primary was held on August 18, 2026, and the winners in November serve a term of about four years, from the first Thursday in January 2027 through the first Thursday in January 2031 (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 Elections). Candidate qualifying ran from noon May 25 to noon May 29, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 Elections). Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are not on the 2026 city ballot: the charter sets 2024 as their base election year, with elections every four years, and 2026 as the base year for Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 and the mayor (St. Petersburg City Charter).

The Digital Towns St. Petersburg elected officials guide lists every council member by district with the 2026 chair and vice chair, and the civic engagement hub explains how to vote and how to run.

St. Petersburg City Council approved a fiscal year 2027 budget of $1,017,757,894 at its second budget public hearing, announced in a city release dated October 6, 2026, for the year that began October 1, 2026.

The vote came at the second budget public hearing at City Hall; the first hearing, on September 3, 2026, adopted the tentative budget and millage rate, and a budget open house took public suggestions on April 13, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg, FY27 budget release). The FY27 Capital Improvement Program totals $197 million, the Public Works Administration budget is $355.8 million across five departments, the Police Department is budgeted at $185.8 million, Fire Rescue at $55.1 million and the Emergency Medical Services Fund at $27.2 million (City of St. Petersburg, FY27 budget release).

For property tax, the city's FY2026 operating millage rate was 6.4525 and Pinellas County's was 4.5423, as listed on the city's Intown redevelopment page (City of St. Petersburg, Intown CRA).

The Digital Towns St. Petersburg budget guide breaks the FY27 plan down by department and follows the tax rate and hearings.

The St. Pete Service Center at 727-893-7111 routes most questions and repair requests, and the City Clerk handles records, council papers and elections.

The Service Center acts as the go-between for residents and city departments, runs the SeeClickFix reporting portal and takes calls at 727-893-7111 or texts at 727-435-7349 (727-HELPFIX), Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (City of St. Petersburg, Service Center). Requests filed in SeeClickFix over weekends or holidays may wait until the next business day, and duplicate requests on the same issue do not speed repairs (City of St. Petersburg, Service Center).

The City Clerk prepares council agendas, records council proceedings, indexes ordinances and resolutions, manages the Archives and Records Division and takes public records requests, at 727-893-7448 or [email protected] (City of St. Petersburg, City Clerk). Council itself meets in Council Chambers at City Hall, 175 Fifth St. N., with meetings carried live on SPTV (City of St. Petersburg, City Council), and council members also sit on regional boards including PSTA, the MPO and TBARTA (City of St. Petersburg, Meetings and Agendas).

County matters go to Pinellas County, whose Board of County Commissioners lists a work session and agenda briefing on October 22, 2026, at 9:30 a.m., and posts agendas about five days before each meeting (Pinellas County, Board of County Commissioners).

Three Digital Towns guides cover St. Petersburg government in depth: the budget, city departments and elected officials.

• How much the city spends, on what, and at what tax rate: the St. Petersburg budget guide.
• Which department handles a problem, where its office is and what number to call: the St. Petersburg city departments guide.
• Who the mayor, council members and county officers are and which seats are on the ballot: the St. Petersburg elected officials guide.

Two older St. Petersburg government topics now live elsewhere: council meeting rules are covered by the City Council guide in the civic engagement section, and the council member roster is part of the elected officials guide.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, for St. Petersburg against the City Charter on Municode, the city's Mayor's Office, City Council, City Clerk, Service Center, Meetings and 2026 Elections pages, the October 6, 2026 budget release and two Pinellas County pages.