Seminole could close its municipal pool, cut library hours and drop Music in the Park and the holiday parade and hand residents the bill for their own street lighting if voters approve a property tax amendment in November.
Those were among roughly $1.3 million in potential cuts city staff laid out for the City Council at a tense Sept. 9 budget workshop, the first of what officials said will be several hard conversations about what Seminole can afford beginning in 2027.
At issue is Amendment 3, the property tax measure state lawmakers placed on the Nov. 3 ballot, and House Bill 1329, which requires cities to hold public workshops and publish hypothetical budgets showing what a 10% spending cut would look like.
Amendment 3 was pitched in Tallahassee as tax relief for homeowners squeezed by inflation. It would raise the homestead exemption to as much as $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and cap assessment increases on non-homestead property at 5%. But cities such as Seminole lean heavily on property taxes to pay for day-to-day operations, and the exemptions would take that money off the tax roll whether or not the city can replace it.
Combined, the changes would cut Seminole’s property tax revenue by $1.31 million in the first year and $1.94 million in the second, a 34% reduction in the affected revenues.
City Manager Ann Toney-Deal told the council the math leaves few painless options. Under House Bill 1329, the state law requiring the exercise, cities must show how they would cut 10% of spending without touching law enforcement, fire protection or other legally required functions. Amendment 3 goes further: if it passes, cities could spend property tax revenue only on a defined list of core needs — public safety, education and public schools, infrastructure, natural resources, debt service, employee retirement and general government operations. Parks, recreation and libraries are not on the list.
“If you can’t cut law enforcement, and you can’t cut fire, then you’ve got to look at programs,” Toney-Deal said.
The preliminary list staff compiled reflects that. The largest single item is getting the city out of the street lighting business, a $265,000 savings that staff said would shift the cost to residents. Closing the pool would save $123,454, and ending county and state median maintenance would save $75,000.
Council members also reviewed cutting community events, including Music in the Park, fireworks and the holiday parade, for $19,455; reducing holiday street decorations and display lighting at City Hall for $32,000; and trimming library hours or closing Sundays, which would save between $90,114 and $181,207, depending on how far the council goes.
Several council members directed their frustration at the Legislature.
“This is gutting cities,” Mayor Leslie Waters said. “The Legislature is gutting our cities.”
Council member Trish Springer questioned the fairness of replacing property taxes with service fees, saying residents who have owned their homes for decades could see their savings erased.
“If I’m understanding this correctly, if this passes, I’m going to be paying more in the non-ad valorem fees than on my tax bill,” Springer said, “but my neighbor is going to be making out paying less.”
New fees
To avoid cutting every program on the list, city leaders discussed raising money elsewhere.
The options include a non-ad valorem fire fee covering the city’s total fire costs, parking fees at city parks to raise $162,250, a $25 recreation membership fee for residents to bring in $50,000, and a $5-a-month franchise fee on residential waste collection to generate $285,180.
Staff also said the city could raise utility taxes or the municipal millage rate. Each percentage point on utility taxes brings in about $265,000.
The council also weighed the future of the planned recreation center and the city’s contract with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Staff said the new recreation center is being designed for better use of space and lower operating costs, and that Penny for Pinellas money is covering capital costs.
No decisions were made Sept. 9; the workshop was designed to lay out options. But officials said that if Amendment 3 passes, the city will have to move quickly after the first of the year to commission fee studies, hire consultants for a fire rate assessment and begin budgeting for two scenarios at once.
Potential cuts and program eliminations
If Amendment 3 passes, the city of Seminole expects to lose about $1.31 million in property tax revenue in the first year. Here are the programs and services staff identified to bridge the gap.
City Council
Nonprofit grants — $30,000
Fire
CERT background checks — $1,200
Eliminate overtime/brownouts — $290,000
Law enforcement
Community policing officer — $140,510
Extra neighborhood patrols — $56,300
Extra traffic enforcement — $60,800
Library
Close Sundays, 5 hours — $90,114
Reduce hours from 70 to 60 a week — $91,093
Programming expenses — $8,500
Public works
Shift cost of residential street lighting to residents — $265,000
Stop county and state median maintenance — $75,000
Recreation
Holiday lights at City Hall and the recreation center — $20,000
Holiday street decorations — $12,000
Close the pool — $123,454
Eliminate Music in the Park, fireworks, Snow Hill and the holiday parade — $19,455
Reduce number of youth athletic officials — $7,500