Two beloved Pinellas County nature preserves on the verge of losing local funding could see another year’s worth of county cash after all.
Facing a roughly $40 million budget shortfall and public heartburn over the prospect of defunding Weedon Island and Shell Key Preserves, county leaders on Thursday floated using some money set aside for a new county headquarters and instead fund the parks for another budget year.
Though commissioners didn’t make a final decision Thursday, the move would give the county more time to ask the region’s state lawmakers for sustained state funding for both parks. The preserves are owned by the state but leased, primarily funded and managed by the county.
“The Weedon Island proposal was very sudden, and caught a lot of people by surprise,” said Commissioner Chris Scherer. Hundreds of residents have written to commissioners, urging them to keep paying for the ecological gems in the heart of a densely populated region.
Pinellas leaders said earlier this month that cuts to the preserves would save the county about $474,000. The county budgeted $715,000 for both parks in the 2025 budget year, and another $734,000 this year, which ends in October, according to county data.
The money funds rangers’ salaries and park upkeep.
Scherer suggested in the Pinellas work session that the commission tap into the pot of money set aside for bonds to pay for a new county headquarters near U.S 19 and Ulmerton Road.
It’s unclear how much the new headquarters will cost, but Pinellas has started setting aside money to help pay for it. The county expects construction to start in 2029, its website states.
In the proposed budget, Pinellas would set aside a few million for construction costs and interest each year.
“Can we cut that by $500,000 and save Weedon Island?” Scherer asked. “That’s what I’d like to do.”
Most of the commissioners appeared to agree with reshuffling the funds to save the parks and buying more time to iron out how to move forward, especially with a November vote on property taxes on the horizon that could reduce county revenue.
Commissioner Dave Eggers said he didn’t disagree with the idea, but noted leaders could negotiate with the state about how to fund the parks moving forward.
“(The state) could fund us the money to operate those two parks,” Eggers said. “They keep talking about having the healthiest of budgets in Tallahassee, they need to take responsibility for what they own.”
With state funding, the county’s parks department could manage and operate both preserves, he said. For the last three decades, Pinellas has paid mostly for both preserves since it started leasing the land from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
That would take the strain off the county’s budget, County Administrator Barry Burton said. Unfunded state requirements on the county’s budget pushed his recommendation to cut funding for the state lands, he added.
Every year, the state Legislature decides on a few requirements for local governments to fund. These are requirements to put money toward programs such as Medicaid or retirement systems.
Their costs often increase, Burton said, including this year.
“Somehow, that has to be made up,” Burton said.
He’s recommended a 3% reduction across all county departments, which would remove about 50 positions from offices. He said he didn’t want to recommend cutting the preserve funding, but since they’re state lands, they could go back to the state.
Commissioner René Flowers added Thursday that even if the money set aside for the headquarters doesn’t work, she’d like to consider having general fund money go toward the preserves.
The general fund is typically where money for regular services for county residents comes from. That part of the budget is also made up of property taxes, which are set to take a hit if voters pass a new referendum.
That referendum would increase an exemption that shields some of a home’s value from property taxes to more than $250,000 over two years. People who own the homes that are their primary residence could see savings in their property taxes. Local governments like Pinellas would collect millions less in property tax dollars starting in fiscal 2028. Those dollars pay for services such as public safety, libraries and parks.
Burton said Thursday that this upcoming budget year’s shortfall is unrelated to the property tax amendment. It’s solely due to state funding requirements on the county, he said.
“Amendment 3 would be a whole new level of reductions,” Burton said, referencing the property tax ballot question. “There would be nothing off the table.”
Pinellas is set to hold more work sessions to discuss the budget in coming weeks. Commissioners must approve the budget in September for the budget year to start in October.
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