Thrive
St. Pete grant funding plunges 83% this year
St. Petersburg, still recovering from a devastating hurricane season while preparing for another, has nearly $31.3 million less grant funding than it did through March 2024.
The gap will likely widen – the current fiscal year began in October 2024 under the previous presidential administration. Federal leaders have since gutted funding for several initiatives, including $882 billion through a now-defunct Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) infrastructure resiliency program.
City Council members heard an update Thursday on grants accepted from Oct. 1 through March 31. Aubrey Phillips, director of strategic initiatives and grants, told the budget committee that St. Petersburg “saw a huge success with the Resilient Florida program” in fiscal year 2024.
“Just after this reporting period closed earlier this month, we did get notice that the eight applications we submitted for Resilient Florida for FY 2025 were not awarded,” Phillips said.
She has asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection why the city “did not see that same success replicated.” Phillips believes denied requests are an “opportunity to learn and improve those projects for next time.”
The number of accepted grants, 21, remains unchanged year-over-year. However, the amount awarded plummeted from $37.6 million to $6.3 million, an 83.3% decrease.
Officials, cautiously, believe $159.6 million in U.S. Housing and Urban Development disaster recovery funding – the Sunshine St. Pete initiative – is safe. “We know we need to be thinking proactively about the capacity to manage those funds over the long term because we don’t want to … return any of those funds due to compliance issues.”
The city still awaits funding from previous fiscal years, highlighting the current discrepancy. Officials expect to receive $5.4 million from 2023, $12.4 million from 2024 and an additional $548,410 this year despite federal uncertainty.
St. Petersburg’s congressional representatives requested $45.66 million for several community projects. Nearly half would have supported storm recovery and mitigation efforts. That money evaporated March 13.
FEMA’s new leadership terminated the “wasteful” and “politicized” Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program April 4. The city had applied for $33.82 million to storm-harden sewage lift stations citywide and mitigate tidal flooding in its lowest-lying neighborhood.
Phillips said grant funding would not dictate the city’s priorities. Local legislators have requested $9.73 million in state appropriations for five projects, including the BRIC initiatives. Officials should know if they will receive the money by July.
Councilmember Brandi Gabbard said $5 million in state funding for the two BRIC projects, if awarded, leaves a sizable deficit. “I’m very concerned with how we fill that hole.”
Gabbard noted the city could not bring those projects to fruition without reallocating “large amounts of money.” FEMA’s county-administered Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant program could help fill gaps.
Phillips believes Pinellas County will receive $400 million in congressionally approved funding from the program. St. Petersburg must compete with other local, rather than national, governments and will apply for allocations related to Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
However, Congress also established BRIC. In March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged that the presidential administration would “eliminate FEMA” altogether.
Phillips said administrators would not have hazard mitigation award information in time to inform an upcoming utility rate study. Increasing residential water, trash and sewer fees could help compensate for the lack of state and federal grants.
The city has also submitted eight congressional Community Project Funding requests totaling $41.3 million for fiscal year 2026. Those encompass three drainage improvement projects, a long-awaited ferry dock at the St. Pete Pier and police take-home vehicles.
Republicans killed this year’s program through a stopgap funding extension to avert a government shutdown. All but one House Democrat voted against a measure most party members say finances extensive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Congresswoman Kathy Castor told the Catalyst that she is unsure if her colleagues would include community projects in the 2026 national budget. “It’s difficult to see that,” she said.
Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz said she could “imagine how difficult it is” for Phillips and her team to do their job amid the current political environment. She also noted the city awaits funding approved in 2022 after Hurricane Ian.
David Thompson, director of government affairs, said it could “genuinely take two years from the time we submitted” to receive a federal award. Beginning the work before receiving the money renders projects ineligible.
“We don’t let grant funding dictate when projects get built,” Phillips said. “Projects are needed when they’re needed.”
Bradley cochran
April 28, 2025at4:34 pm
Feels like we’re getting left behind while other cities move forward. Really disappointing to see..
Laylonee Keith
April 28, 2025at3:18 pm
I agree that this is a failure of leadership and an unconscionable dereliction of fiduciary duties. I’m starting to feel hopeless and unsure that local officials have the savvy to overcome these Iincreasingly cruel and frugal budgetary slashes.
Lucas stone
April 28, 2025at12:15 pm
How do you gut critical funding and still expect cities to survive? The storms don’t wait. The streets don’t fix themselves. And now the money’s gone when we need it most.
Julia Burke
April 28, 2025at10:06 am
It’s pretty hard not to find the facts in this article very discourageing. Besides the clawing back of needed funds by the admin in favor of tax cuts to the top half percent of Americans, there’s the added frustrations of paralyzing bureaucracy.
Alyssa haley
April 28, 2025at9:58 am
This is an absolute failure of leadership. How do you let funding drop 83% when climate threats are getting worse? Unacceptable.
Steve Gangler
April 27, 2025at8:19 pm
Less money at the public trough? Well it’s a good thing that the same.*very concerned* council members were thwarted in getting their awful, corrupt, graft ridden free stadium giveaway to a billionaire . These same officials have spent the last 1.5 years trying to shovel nearly $2 billion into a private billion dollar corporation.
Let’s see them start acting like they care about fiscal responsibility and spending public funds for actual public benefit.
No one believes their faux concern after that wretched performance.
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
April 25, 2025at6:16 pm
I guess the ‘City’ need a DOGE person to do check and balances. The sewer/drainage system issue is a left over from the Prior administration and was ignored by the current administration. Look at where you are spending our money. $750 thousand for a planned party at the Pier could be better spent. The $4.5 million for that apartment complex with the $2800 a month rent for a 2 bedroom apartment needs to be rescinded and more waste needs to be checked. I will be happy to help if needed, for free.
JAMES R. GILLESPIE
April 25, 2025at5:17 pm
The outside funding sounds very contingent given the Trump administration’s known policies. City fees for the services mentioned are also high, and many of us think increases should hold for a year until funding and costs become clearer. Part of the problem is that administrations waited too long to make improvements that serve and protect everyone. This news article is plainly negative and discouraging. Infrastructure upgrades must be a priority.