After delaying a vote to bond $116 million for the city’s aging fire stations on Jan. 11, Tampa City Council is slated to vote on the item today (watch the meeting live below).
Council members voted 6-0, with Councilwoman Gwen Henderson being absent, to approve a walk-on resolution increasing cost of living pay for the city’s firefighters union by 4.5% at the same meeting. A walk-on resolution bypasses the city’s traditional agenda process under special circumstances. Councilman Bill Carlson raised concerns about transparency in the walk-on resolution.
“I’m disappointed at the administration for not notifying us in December,” Carlson said at the meeting, “for not giving City Council any documentation until yesterday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the vote.”
John Bennett, Tampa’s chief of staff, said the city and the union had 11 public meetings on the negotiations, previous to the walk-on amendment. Bennett said in the end, the walk-on amendment was only used because the agreement with the firefighter’s union would impact payroll.
“The only driver here is to meet a payroll timeline for firefighters because this has been an elongated negotiation,” Bennett said at the Jan. 11 meeting.
“The first time I got the briefing was not until yesterday afternoon,” council member Alan Clendenin said at the meeting. “I don’t think this should set a precedent of how we do business.”
According to Dennis Rogero, the city’s chief financial officer, the impact is roughly $1 million for fiscal year 2024.
“We requested this based on timeliness,” Nick Stocco, president of Tampa’s firefighters union, said at the meeting. “It was a time crunch.”
While council approved the raise, council and community members raised additional concerns about the roughly $116 million proposed bonding capacity to repair and replace fire stations across the city.
“We can’t bond ourselves to fund all the things the administration wants with disregard to the future of the city,” Carlson said. “We can’t borrow our way out of this.”
According to Rogero, it’s what’s known as a reimbursement resolution, essentially allowing the city to spend money now to get projects done rather than wait for the issuance of debt.
“We’re not asking the Council to issue the debt right now,” Rogero said.
At today’s meeting, Rogero is slated to present information on the city’s debt ratios ahead of the bonding vote. Last fall, City Council rejected Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s original proposed FY2024 budget including a 1% millage tax increase, part of that additional revenue was slated for fire station upgrades.
“It’s about the establishment of bonding for police and for fire,” Connie Burton, community activist, said at the meeting. “We haven’t had the opportunity to talk about it as a community.”
If approved, the city would purchase land in north Tampa and construct a Fire Station 24. Funds are also included for repairing Fire Stations 6, 9, and 10. The interest on the anticipated bonding is $98 million.
“Don’t saddle citizens with so much debt right away that we can’t get anything else done,” councilwoman Lynn Hurtak said at the meeting.
The meeting is slated for Jan. 25 beginning at 9 a.m .
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Tampa City Council will vote on $116 million for aging fire stations today
Officials have proposed bonding $116 million to repair and replace fire stations across the city.
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