Pinellas Lowers Tax Rate, Restores Weedon Island Funding in Tentative FY27 Budget

Pinellas County commissioners voted unanimously on Sept. 10 to advance a tentative $5.14 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 that lowers the countywide General Fund tax rate and restores money that had been on the chopping block for Weedon Island Preserve, Shell Key Preserve and local social service grants. A final public hearing and vote are set for Sept. 24.

The board dropped the countywide General Fund millage rate to 4.4989 mills, down from the 4.5423 mills originally floated earlier this summer. For homeowners, a lower millage rate means a smaller portion of their property's taxable value goes to the county's general operations, even as total collections can still rise with property value growth.

What got restored

Earlier budget drafts had proposed eliminating operating funds for Weedon Island Preserve and Shell Key Preserve entirely, part of an effort to close a shortfall in the county's parks and recreation budget. The revised plan commissioners approved puts $555,000 back into keeping both preserves open and staffed.

Weedon Island, on the east side of St. Petersburg along Tampa Bay, and Shell Key, the barrier island preserve near Tierra Verde, are both popular with kayakers, birdwatchers and school groups. Losing funding would have meant reduced hours, less maintenance, or scaled-back programming at sites residents have used for decades.

Commissioners also added back $125,000 for the unincorporated-area grant program, money that flows to community projects and organizations outside the county's cities. And they agreed to keep $667,000 in Social Action Funding alive for one more year, drawing on one-time reserve dollars rather than recurring revenue to do it. That program reimburses nonprofit agencies that provide services such as food assistance, homeless prevention and elder care to low-income residents.

A campus bill still coming

The tentative budget also earmarks roughly $4.1 million toward future bond payments tied to a new county administrative campus, a project commissioners have been weighing even as they trim elsewhere. Using reserve dollars to patch this year's preserve and social service funding means those same gaps could reopen next year unless the county finds a more permanent revenue source or makes deeper cuts elsewhere.

The Sept. 10 vote was tentative. State law requires a second, final public hearing before any Florida county can adopt its budget and set its final tax rate for the year ahead. Pinellas County has scheduled that hearing for Sept. 24, when commissioners will take the last vote before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Residents who want to weigh in before then can review the budget documents and hearing details through the county's Citizens Guide to the Budget and the county's tax rate chart, both posted on the county's website.

Have thoughts on the budget, the preserves, or what should come next? Head over to Pinellas County Community Website and join the conversation in our Community Forum. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook, and for more on how local government decisions affect your wallet and your neighborhood, check out our government and politics coverage and our latest news.

Header photo: TlyleSheph3rd / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)