St. Petersburg City Budget for Fiscal Year 2027

St. Petersburg City Council approved a fiscal year 2027 budget of $1,017,757,894, and that budget year began on October 1, 2026.

The approval came at the second budget public hearing at St. Petersburg City Hall, and the city announced it on October 6, 2026 (City of St. Petersburg FY27 budget release). The city runs on an October 1 to September 30 fiscal year, so FY27 closes on September 30, 2027 (City of St. Petersburg, South St. Pete CRA).

The St. Petersburg plan is organized around Mayor Kenneth T. Welch's five Pillars for Progress: Housing Opportunities for All; Environment, Infrastructure, and Resilience; Equitable Development, Arts, and Business Opportunities; Education and Youth Opportunities; and Neighborhood Health and Safety (FY27 budget release). The release ties the FY27 St. Pete budget to long-term recovery from the 2024 storms and to infrastructure built to endure.

The St. Petersburg Capital Improvement Program for FY27 totals $197 million, and the city says it funds projects to protect the environment and improve city infrastructure (FY27 budget release). Four documents for the year are posted on the St. Petersburg Budget & Finance page: the FY27 Adopted Budget, the FY27 Tentative Budget, the FY27 Budget in Brief and the FY27 Recommended Budget (City of St. Petersburg, Budget & Finance).

The largest department amounts in the St. Petersburg FY27 highlights are Public Works Administration at $355.8 million, the Police Department at $185.8 million and Fire Rescue at $55.1 million.

Every amount in the St. Petersburg table comes from the city's FY27 highlights list (FY27 budget release). Public Works Administration covers five departments, and the city says its budget reflects improving infrastructure, maintaining assets and preparing for the future.

Water and sewer projects hold the three largest project amounts in the St. Pete FY27 highlights: Water Distribution System Improvements at $29.9 million, Water Treatment/Supply projects at $27.75 million, Water Reclamation Facilities Improvements at $22.4 million, Sanitary Sewer Collection System projects at $12.45 million and Lift Station Improvements at $8.4 million (FY27 budget release).

Named St. Petersburg drainage projects show where the flood money lands: Connecticut Ave NE and Vicinity Resiliency Storm Drainage Improvements at $15 million, the Bartlett Lake/Salt Creek Pump Station at $8 million, Local-Scale Stormwater Mitigation Projects at $5 million and Shore Acres Denver Storm Drainage Improvements at $2.8 million (FY27 budget release). Street and Road Improvements get $8.775 million, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Improvements $7.834 million, Sidewalks $2.7 million and Complete Streets $1.55 million.

Smaller St. Pete lines in the highlights include the Healthy St. Pete Initiative at $1.3 million, the Community Assistance and Life Liaison (CALL) Program at $1.8 million, six additional full-time sworn fire positions at $801,451, the Arts Grants Program at $557,000, The Palladium at $250,000, the St. Petersburg Museum of History at $75,000 and the USF Science Center at Clam Bayou at $100,000 (FY27 budget release).

The City of St. Petersburg lists its millage rate as 6.4525, which it says is unchanged from the year before.

Millage is the tax owed for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value, and the St. Petersburg transparency page warns that a bill can still rise when the property value rises even with an unchanged rate (City of St. Petersburg, property tax transparency). The South St. Pete CRA page shows the same 6.4525 city rate for FY 2026 (South St. Pete CRA).

A point worth knowing before quoting the St. Petersburg tax page: on October 15, 2026 it still describes the FY26 budget, not FY27. It lists FY26 all-funds revenues of $974.464M, a FY26 General Fund of $411.921M and FY26 ad valorem revenue of $228.876M, which it says is 23.51% of total operating revenue and 55.62% of General Fund revenues (property tax transparency). The FY27 adoption release does not print the final FY27 rate, so the FY27 Adopted Budget document on the Budget & Finance page is the place to confirm it (Budget & Finance).

The city rate is only one line on a St. Petersburg tax bill. Pinellas County adopted its own FY27 budget on September 24, 2026 (Pinellas County, Citizens Guide to the Budget) and cut the county General Fund rate to 4.4989 mills, which the county calls its lowest level since 1989 (Pinellas County FY27 budget news). For taxable value and exemptions, the city page points readers to www.pcpao.gov, and the city's South St. Pete CRA page lists the Pinellas County rate for FY 2026 as 4.523 (South St. Pete CRA).

If St. Petersburg voters approve the 2026 General Obligation Bond on November 3, 2026, the city says it would be repaid through a dedicated property tax millage estimated at approximately 0.96 mills.

The question asks voters to authorize up to $600 million in general obligation bonds for storm resilience work on St. Petersburg stormwater, wastewater and potable water systems, maturing not more than 30 years from each issuance date (City of St. Petersburg, 2026 GO Bond). City Council approved the ballot language on July 23, 2026.

The St. Petersburg estimate is about $96 per year per $100,000 of taxable value, and its FAQ gives an estimated rate of 4.50% over 30 years, issued in multiple bond series from 2027 to 2030 (2026 GO Bond). The city says more than half of the $600 million is planned for protecting water and wastewater utilities from storm surge.

If voters say no, the St. Petersburg page says the city would continue funding SPAR projects through utility fees, building the same projects over a much longer timeline (2026 GO Bond).

In FY 2026 the South St. Pete CRA received $20,093,398 in tax increment money, $12,241,271 from the City of St. Petersburg and $7,852,127 from Pinellas County.

Under the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Plan, the city contributes 95 percent of the increment value and Pinellas County 85 percent to the 4,777-acre district, which the city calls its largest CRA (South St. Pete CRA). The district and its redevelopment fund expire on May 21, 2045 under Ordinance 169-H.

The St. Petersburg contribution has grown each year on the CRA page: $8,906,892 in FY 2024, $10,737,354 in FY 2025 and $12,241,271 in FY 2026 (South St. Pete CRA). The FY26 St. Pete transparency page reports $26.508M of ad valorem money allocated to required TIF transfers for the city's three tax increment districts (property tax transparency).

For FY27, St. Petersburg residents could weigh in at the April 13, 2026 Budget Open House and at two September public hearings, all in Council Chambers at City Hall, 175 5th St. N.

Dates in the St. Petersburg calendar come from the Budget & Finance page (Budget & Finance) and the April 1, 2026 open house notice (Budget Open House release). The city says suggestions from the April 13 open house influenced the recommended budget submitted to City Council on July 16, 2026 (FY27 budget release); the Budget & Finance milestone list shows July 15, so the two city pages differ by a day.

Council also held Committee of the Whole budget workshops on January 29, April 23, May 7 and July 30, 2026, and the hearings aired on stpete.org/TV and on Frontier 20, Spectrum 641 and WOW! Cable 15 (Budget & Finance).

Questions go to the St. Petersburg Budget & Management Department at 727-893-7436 or [email protected], or to the Finance Department at 727-893-7304, One 4th St N, 5th Floor (Budget & Finance). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg website.