Gulfport City Workshop on State Tax Legislation and Budget Impacts - June 18, 2026
Gulfport City Workshop on State Tax Legislation and Budget Impacts - June 18, 2026
The City of Gulfport held a workshop on June 18, 2026, to discuss recent state legislative actions affecting property taxes and the city's budget. City Manager Jim O'Reilly presented the details of proposed constitutional amendments and other bills, highlighting potential revenue losses and the need for future budget adjustments. Council members and the public expressed concerns about the impacts on city services and home rule.
Public Comments & Testimony
- April Thanos (Gulfport resident) criticized the proposed amendment, noting that cuts to permitting fees and the inability to raise enterprise fund transfers would hinder the city's ability to fund matching grants for infrastructure projects. She urged the public not to vote for the amendment.
- Kathleen Kidwell (Gulfport resident) questioned the revenue figures presented, stating that her property tax of $6,500 multiplied by the number of properties did not match the $6.9 million ad valorem figure. She also raised concerns about rat control.
- Robert Rubin (Gulfport resident) asked about raising revenue through fair market value leases for city-owned properties, noting that referendums had passed in March.
- Albert asked whether Gulfport could go bankrupt if the amendment passed and the city could not fund the police department. The mayor clarified that the city has not raised enough ad valorem taxes to fund public safety for years and uses other revenue sources.
- Unnamed speaker characterized the amendment as a power grab by the state and said they would vote against it.
- Kelly Rott (Gulfport resident) requested that frequently asked questions be compiled and made publicly available online.
- Kim Hamilton (Gulfport resident) noted that the Stetson area's 50+ units are disappearing from the tax rolls and asked about the impact. She also inquired about organizing volunteer canvassing to educate residents.
- Wolfgang Dinning (Gulfport resident) expressed fear about the state's power grab and loss of home rule, citing recent DEI mandates.
- Valerie Welch (Gulfport resident, via e-comment) emphasized the importance of the Gulfport Public Library, which serves the entire community and Pinellas County through the cooperative, and advocated for preserving its mission and free services.
Discussion Items
- City Manager O'Reilly presented the legislative context: the proposed constitutional amendment would expand the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 for non-school taxes, reduce the annual assessment cap from 10% to 5% for certain non-homestead properties, and create a two-tiered system for new homesteaders. He noted that the state will not backfill revenue gaps.
- The city currently collects $6.9 million in ad valorem taxes out of a $21.8 million general fund, but public safety costs (police, fire) exceed that amount. The city already faces a $2 million shortfall, and the amendment would add $1.1 million in losses in year one and $1.8 million in year two.
- Councilmember Webb explained that the bill also shifts spending authority to Tallahassee through an "unless prohibited by general law" clause, and that the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission will meet in December 2026 to propose broader tax reforms.
- Mayor Love highlighted the inequity: 62% of homesteaded properties would eventually pay no property taxes, leaving a small fraction of homeowners and non-homesteaded properties to carry the load. She urged residents to review their tax bills.
- Councilmember Early praised the city manager's fiscal stewardship.
- Councilmember Donch asked about portability, which is not affected by the amendment.
- Councilmember Webb discussed the difference between regressive taxes (e.g., utility taxes) and property taxes, noting that the state suggested cities raise fees and taxes that disproportionately affect lower-income residents.
- The city manager noted that the city must conduct a 10% budget reduction exercise, though it is not yet a requirement to cut actual spending. However, vacant positions will not be filled, and services like park maintenance may be reduced.
- Discussion included the difficulty of contracting with the sheriff for law enforcement, which would require a supermajority council vote and a voter referendum due to the city charter.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken.
- The city manager will maintain the $21.8 million general fund baseline for the next fiscal year, with discussions on reductions to begin after the November election.
- Councilmember Webb will compile a highlight reel of legislative debate minutes for public reference.
- The next budget workshop is scheduled for August 6, 2026.
- The council encouraged residents to attend future meetings, review the budget online, and contact council members with questions.
Meeting Transcript
Eleven thirty four. Welcome, and I am so glad to see a lot of faces out there that I don't know. Um, I think tonight's presentation will be fairly brief and fairly to the point, and you'll have an opportunity to tell us what services you might like to cut. I make a joke of that only because I did that at Gulfport 2050. I asked everybody to um tell me, you know, what services I think could be cut as we were projecting. Actually, it was called Callport 2050. And one person told me that he thought that we should um cut the number of ballparks that we have, and then I had about 12 people each tell me two or three things they thought we should add. So I think I came out about two million up instead of anything down. So you can imagine how that happens. So this is a little, this is um going to be what we call a workshop, and we, you know, maybe doing these, you know, eight, ten times a year. Opportunity to be a little bit less formal. Um we will have a presentation from our city uh first. Um, then the council will be able to ask questions and have discussion if they'd like. We will be taking public comment. For those of you that we're gonna attend, you know, public comment is not a question and answer period, it's an opportunity for you to go on the record and say whatever you want, and then if you leave your your contact information and you have a specific question, we can get back to you without a doubt. I'm very very responsive on email. Um, so with that, we're gonna kick it off. Um first we're gonna do roll call and then we'll turn it over to our city manager. Council member early, council member Donch here, Vice Mayor Shaw, present council member Webb, present, Mayor Love here, City Manager O'Reilly, yeah. City Clerk Carico is present. So one last housekeeping thing. Um, number one, if you're any chance that your telephone is on, please make sure it's off. And the second thing is if you you miss something and you need to have a discussion with the person next to you, just take it into the hallway. We're like a fishbowl. I hear every single whisper up there. I might not hear what the person next to me is saying, but I can hear everything up there, and it's distracting. So thank you so much. And if you will, city manager, thank you, Mayor. Mayor, um council and the public is very well aware of the legislative action that took place about two weeks ago in regards to expanding different versions of this, and this is why we're here tonight of what this is tax reform, save our homes, just all types of different variables that have been put out there. Well, as the city, we have to do it from a factual standpoint. One thing that you'll see attached to your agenda this evening is the actual joint bill that was adopted by the legislature. That way, that's facts, and I'm gonna cover those points, those significant bullet points. And I just to put this in framework, I just want to make two points. We're talking about just advoam taxes this evening. It's about 6.9 million dollars of a 21.8 million dollar general fund. The city of Gulfport has not raised its millage rate since 2012. We actually in 20 fiscal year 22, 23, we actually lowered it a bit. So this has been consistent. We've been in a range to where we are today at 4.0258. From 3.66 over 16 almost 16 years ago, and that was legislative action that was taken to lower the millage rate based on reduction in revenue, and that was at a different property value. Subsequent to that, the city lost great amount of property value and has gone through some inevitable swings. So that those two things I think put this in context of how important this is to us as the city. This isn't just this tax bill or homestead expansion bill. There are the legislative actions that have been taken over the last two years or so that impact us also when we put the budget together. House bill, House resolutions, joint resolution that we're talking about, the expansion of homesteading things to that effect, which is the bill attached to you to your package. Property tax reform. House bill is the local government finance budget transparency and reduction requirement. What that does is require you to go through an exercise to reduce 10% of your budget. Yes, ma'am. It's an exercise to imagine what you would do, not actually doing it's an exercise.
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