St. Petersburg City Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz is working to advance a proposed $600 million General Obligation bond. She has asked the Board to send the proposal to the Budget, Finance and Taxation Committee on Thursday. City leaders are starting to discuss a major infrastructure investment package that could go to voters for approval in August.
The bond proposal comes as St. Petersburg deals with aging infrastructure and more flooding risks after recent storms. The plan would address the city’s needs for resiliency and improvements to stormwater, sewers, and neighborhoods. At Thursday’s City Council meeting, policymakers will have an early chance to share their views before the proposal goes to the Committee. The Council will vote on the referendum language at a later meeting, after the Committee makes its recommendations.
As the bond gets more public attention, mayoral candidates have different views on the proposal, showing how it could affect the race. They have shared different ideas about how the city should invest in infrastructure and who should pay for it.
Mayor Ken Welch was one of the first local officials to support the proposal. He talked about the bond during his State of the City address earlier this year, which was also the day he started his re-election campaign. He said the bond would pay for long-planned upgrades to help with flooding, sea-level rise, and more severe weather, without depending only on utility rate increases.
Welch has also recognized the challenge of supporting a major borrowing plan while running for re-election, but he said the city’s need for infrastructure investment is too urgent to ignore.
City Council member Brandi Gabbard, who is also running for mayor, has shown early support for the proposal. At her campaign kickoff this week, Gabbard said she wants transparency about how the money would be used before voters decide on the measure.
Gabbard said that paying for the city’s long-standing stormwater needs, which are part of a $700 million master plan, is a top priority. However, she warned that there are still disagreements about exactly how the funds should be used.
Mayoral candidate Kevin Batdorf, who is not currently an elected official, has doubts about putting a tax-backed bond on the ballot while state-level property tax debates are happening. He said the timing could make it hard for the bond to pass, even though the city needs infrastructure improvements. He also said the next Mayor should be ready in case the referendum does not pass.
Another mayoral candidate, former St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Large, has not spoken directly about the bond proposal. However, he is known to support stormwater and infrastructure investment.
