Tampa City Government Guide

Mayor Jane Castor and the seven members of Tampa City Council run the City of Tampa in October 2026.

Jane Castor is the 59th Mayor of the City of Tampa (City of Tampa mayor page). Her official biography traces a career in the Tampa Police Department, where she became chief of police in 2009; Tampa residents elected her mayor in 2019 and reelected her in 2023.

Tampa City Council has seven seats, each with a four-year term. Districts 1, 2 and 3 are at-large seats chosen by voters across the whole city, and Districts 4 through 7 are chosen inside individual districts (Tampa City Council, About Us). The term of every current Tampa council member ends on April 30, 2027.

The October 2026 roster on the council's own page lists Alan Clendenin (District 1 At-Large, chairman), Guido Maniscalco (District 2 At-Large), Lynn Hurtak (District 3 At-Large), Bill Carlson (District 4), Naya Young (District 5), Charlie Miranda (District 6) and Luis Viera (District 7), who also serves as CRA vice chair (Tampa City Council).

Four Tampa guides go further on these offices: the Tampa city council members guide profiles each member, the Tampa city council districts guide explains the at-large and district map, the Tampa elected officials guide lists who holds which seat, and the mayors of Tampa guide follows the office back through the earlier mayors.

Tampa City Hall is at 315 East Kennedy Blvd. in downtown Tampa, and the City Council office on its third floor answers at 813-274-8131.

The council office at City Hall, 3rd Floor, Tampa, Florida 33602, keeps office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday (Tampa City Council contact information). For questions that belong to no single office, every City of Tampa page carries the general contact of 306 East Jackson Street, Tampa, Florida 33602, (813) 274-8211 (City of Tampa).

The Office of the City Clerk, at 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., witnesses the official records of Tampa, including official actions of City Council, oaths of office and appointments to city boards and committees (Office of the City Clerk). City Clerk Shirley Foxx-Knowles heads the office, which lists its phone as (813) 274-8397. Public records requests to the City of Tampa are filed through the GovQA portal, and questions about a request go to [email protected] or (813) 274-8030.

The Tampa city departments guide maps the offices that sit under the mayor, and the Tampa human rights ordinance guide explains how the city takes discrimination complaints and which protections the ordinance covers.

Tampa City Council holds regular sessions at 9:00 a.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month, and the City of Tampa states that all council meetings are open to the public.

At a Tampa regular session, 30 minutes are set aside for public comment under Rule 3(B)(5) of the council's Rules of Procedure (City Council Information Resources). Each speaker may address Tampa City Council for three minutes on any matter not scheduled for a public hearing, and speakers on items already on the agenda get preference. Anyone not reached in the allotted time gets a chance to speak at the end of the meeting.

Tampa council agendas now live in the cloud-based Agenda Online system at a new address, tampagov.hylandcloud.com/251agendaonline, and the council page warns that bookmarks to the old address no longer work (Tampa City Council). The same page posts formal notices, such as the regular agenda meeting of October 15, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. CTTV carries Tampa regular meetings live on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. and replays them at times that include Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. (City Council Information Resources).

The Tampa council meetings guide follows an item from agenda to vote, and the guide on how to speak at a Tampa City Council meeting covers sign-up, the online public comment form and quasi-judicial hearings.

Tampa building permits and code enforcement complaints are both handled at City Center at Hanna, the city office complex on Hanna Avenue.

Construction Services, the Tampa building department, lists City Center at Hanna, 2555 E. Hanna Ave., Tampa, FL 33610, with a main line of (813) 274-3100, option 1 (Construction Services contact page). Its doors are open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; walk-in appointments are taken between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., while the Construction Compliance Section closes at 4 p.m. and takes walk-ins from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., except on Wednesdays during magistrate hearings Removal of trees without a permit inside Tampa city limits has its own hotline at (813) 258-8733.

The Neighborhood Enhancement Division takes Tampa code enforcement complaints and case inquiries at (813) 274-5545, from the same Hanna Avenue address, Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Neighborhood Enhancement contact page). Its mailing address is P.O. Box 2200, Tampa, Florida 33601, and its contact page also lists the TECO line for power outages, toll-free 1-877-588-1010, staffed 24 hours.

The Hanna Avenue City Center opened in 2023 as a one-stop hub, and the 161,000-square-foot building was recently named the Best Project in Florida by the U.S. Green Building Council, Mayor Castor said in her May 2026 State of the City address (City of Tampa, 2026 State of the City). The address placed the center just blocks from Fair Oaks Park along Hillsborough Avenue and counted the two projects as a historic level of investment in East Tampa. The Tampa building permits guide walks through residential and commercial permits, fees and inspections, and the Tampa code enforcement guide covers magistrate hearings and liens.

Tampa has finished a charter review, is rewriting its land development code and faces council terms that end on April 30, 2027.

The Tampa City Charter, which the Office of the City Clerk calls the city's constitution, must be reviewed every eight years (Charter Review Advisory Commission). The Charter Review Advisory Commission, a board of appointed residents, formally concluded on September 1, 2026, and its final report is posted on the clerk's page. A recommended change takes effect only after it is placed on the ballot by ordinance and approved by Tampa voters. The Tampa city charter history guide explains how the charter has changed over time.

Tampa Forward: Building Tomorrow Together is a two-year project to update the Tampa Land Development Code, and most of that code sits in Chapter 27 of the City Code of Ordinances (Tampa Updates its Land Development Code). Installment 2, posted in October 2026, covers how development projects are reviewed and approved and changes how decisions can be appealed. The next public meeting is Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at 2555 E Hanna Avenue, with a virtual option. The Tampa land development code update guide explains how zoning works today.

The Tampa budget office has posted Built to Last, the recommended Fiscal Year 2027 operating and capital budget, with a PDF version and a budget presentation (City of Tampa budget page). A detail worth knowing: as of October 14, 2026, that page still labels the FY2027 document as recommended, so the adopted figures are best confirmed with the budget office. The Tampa city budget guide breaks down where city spending goes.

Mayor Castor gave her May 2026 State of the City address with one year remaining in her second term (City of Tampa), and the current Tampa council terms run to April 30, 2027. Digital Towns names the officeholders in place on October 14, 2026, and not candidates for the 2027 city election.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Tampa website.

Thirteen Tampa government guides go deeper than this hub, and the table matches the common questions to the key fact and the guide that covers each one.