Thrive
Federal funding freezes cloud St. Pete’s future
An ongoing legal battle surrounding the presidential pause and review of federal funding could not have come at a worse time for the City of St. Petersburg.
Officials await about $200 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and another $160 million in hurricane recovery funding for residents. Exasperated city council members discussed their concerns with lobbyists during a Feb. 20 legislative committee meeting.
Administrators are now re-wording the city’s federal legislative agenda to appease the new presidential administration. Robert Diamond, a municipal lobbyist with Washington, D.C.-based Capitol Counsel, said proposed cuts to FEMA “would obviously be a significant impact on the work being done here around disaster relief recovery.”
“I can’t understate the serious nature of the changes happening right now,” Diamond said. “They (the administration) have taken a sledgehammer approach to the first 30 days, and there are going to be significant unintended consequences.”
Pinellas County’s total damage bill from Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton is about $2.5 billion. St. Petersburg incurred at least $247.3 million in costs to city-owned properties.
City officials expect FEMA reimbursements to cover all but $14 million. Mayor Ken Welch has repeatedly said the federal funding and insurance payouts for Tropicana Field have influenced his decision to repair the storm-damaged stadium rather than offering the Tampa Bay Rays a cash settlement.
Those plans are now in flux. Diamond noted an executive order “essentially put a funding freeze in place across all federal agencies, which was immediately challenged in court by a number of entities.”
“So, we are in the first inning of what is going to be a constitutional battle,” he added. “I don’t want to undersell the impact of this separation of powers battle.”
Diamond said the funding freezes and reviews affect everything from public social programs to academic research and private sector work. “You’re talking hundreds of billions – if not trillions – of dollars.”
Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz said the first month of the new presidential administration has felt like a lifetime. She questioned what would happen to previously-signed agreements with federal agencies.
The former administration announced Jan. 7 that St. Petersburg would receive $160 million to fill hurricane recovery funding gaps not covered by insurance or other sources. The windfall stems from the recently revamped U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program.
Pinellas County would receive $813.8 million from the initiative. Local governments can use the money to replace and rebuild damaged affordable housing, strengthen infrastructure and support small businesses.
Diamond said congressionally authorized funding “should be safe.” However, he said the president is “essentially waiting” for new appointees to oversee federal agencies before unpausing the process.
“The administration says it has the right to examine,” Diamond explained. “They’re not saying they’re going to defund it or claw it back … So, best-case scenario, there are definitely going to be some delays here as this works its way through court.”
St. Petersburg spent about $126 million on storm debris removal. Photo: Peter Wahlberg.
Hanewicz noted St. Petersburg still awaits a $3 million FEMA reimbursement from 2022. She and her colleagues said the uncertainty will influence budget and policy decisions.
Tariffs will also burden the city and its residents. Hanewicz said officials already lack the funding to complete planned infrastructure projects, and a 25% increase in construction material costs will exacerbate the issue.
“People need to understand what a tariff is,” she continued. “It’s just an additional tax that will be passed through to us.”
St. Petersburg’s federal legislative agenda advocates for additional environmental resilience and equitable development funding. Councilmember Brandi Gabbard called “equitable” a “firestorm word” that “has to go so it doesn’t raise a big red flag.”
She said the city must read the room and modify language when discussing legislative priorities. Her colleagues agreed that the overarching goal is to garner much-needed federal funding rather than assert local principles.
“It’s very hard to proactively advocate for expansions of programs and new legislation in an environment where everything is being reduced … and cut dramatically,” Diamond warned. “I think we need to be clear-eyed about that.”
Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders suggested tweaking the legislative agenda without substantially altering its intent. The opening paragraph states that federal funding, trade policy and agency alterations will unnecessarily burden residents and businesses. It also emphasizes the need for “thoughtful and humane” immigration reform.
The committee passed a resolution to have Diamond assist with a redraft of the legislative agenda that is more palatable to the presidential administration. The city council will discuss those changes March 6, five days before local stakeholders visit the nation’s capital.
“I don’t think we’ve been afraid to share how we feel, via resolution, on certain issues,” said Council Chair Copley Gerdes. “I’m certainly willing to pick a fight – I’m just not sure this is where we do it.”
Sean Muellers
February 28, 2025at7:23 am
Enjoy Trump. Told ya so. You get what you voted for. Maybe you should have done your homework before voting. Enjoy the suck. I’ll enjoy the yuge tax cuts coming my way. And then I’ll spend that money on international travel. Let it trickle down outside the U.S.
Peewee
February 26, 2025at4:45 pm
Airport issue another wasteful issue so private folks can fly their plane while taxpayers foot the bills. Close it and use it for something else
Peewee
February 26, 2025at4:44 pm
Stop expecting every taxpayers in the country to fund the damage. Budget for it mayor. You tax us, raise the water bills, and cry foul y do we not have a surplus in out budget. Instead you promise billions for a deal that the rays don’t want. You waste tax dollars on wasteful projects like the birds net. U allow sewers water and other things we need to fail while enjoying telling us you are in control. You care more for a ball team that has spend millions in tampa to play next year and they will never return. Let them go build housing but while u r at it let’s also do stuff for everyone in the city not just everything south of Central
Tom Tito
February 26, 2025at4:39 pm
The city and county may have one last chance to ask a judge if the Rays ended the contract by claiming that they could not absorb cost overruns. Or we can wait for them to give up on getting more city money and complete a horribly bad deal.
At stake is over a billion dollars of public resources foolishly given away by city council members.
We now know not to count on the federal government to borrow money to bail us out. The Gas Plant property should be used to help residents.
The nation is learning that our city made the worst deal to provide the biggest subsidy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHX1Oc7gIZ4
Sven
February 26, 2025at1:06 pm
Typical Trump Train wreck victim losing their funding to offset 5.4 trillion in tax cuts to the rich corporate families. The billionaires are picking America’s carcass clean before bankruptcy with Elon getting NASA, DaVos owning the dept of education, and Louis DeJoy selling off all the assets of the US Post Office. America is now a Russian style oligarchy subservient to Putin’s Russia
Robert M. Grainger
February 26, 2025at10:56 am
This article is ridiculous. The focus primarily being a full on political attack an a new administration that has already uncovered significant fraudulent use of tax funds and here you are crying about those funds going to a sports team! Almost nothing about the people who lost everything! Nothing about the hugely botched FEMA response locally and abroad! Clearly your true focus is playing politics
Mike C
February 26, 2025at9:20 am
The Mayor, the council and the city cant escape incompetent decisions and signing up to a politically motivated bad deal with the Rays, all in an effort to fund vanity and pet projects. City leadership is now working to tailor wording? The wording needs to explicitly ask for funding to help the people and businesses of St Pete, not the Rays or vanity projects.
Alan DeLisle
February 26, 2025at6:19 am
Oh and let’s not forget to prioritize the Rays. Maybe you should have read the room years ago.
Robby ForDeField
February 25, 2025at10:24 pm
Hey, let’s prioritize spending and NOT blow billions in funds, land and taxes on a luxury stadium complex.
Look how easy it is to be wildly smarter that your average city official!
JAMES R. GILLESPIE
February 25, 2025at6:27 pm
NO QUESTION THE CITY NEEDS EVERY FEDERAL DOLLAR PROMISED FOR RESTORATION AND REPAIRS FOR THE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ON TARGET TO BE CAREFUL TO USE THE RIGHT LANGUAGE WHEN DEALING WITH THE NEW ADMINISTRATION. TALK STRAIGHT DAMAGE AND REPAIR AND NOT RED FLAG POLICY LINGO.
Steve D
February 25, 2025at2:13 pm
The kids have gotten so used to mooching off the parents that they don’t know what to do when they get kicked out of the house to make it on their own.