Committees and Covetousness

Host

Joshua Black

Description

A glimpse into how government funding perpetuates problems rather than solving them.

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Transcript

Welcome to the 13th edition of the Saint Petersburg Florida Area News podcast for the year 2019. I’m your host, Joshua Black, and this episode will focus on the Saint Petersburg City Council committee meetings held on April 11. There was a mini-council meeting after the committee meetings, but it was simply awards and presentations. I suppose government officials boasting about the results of wasting our money can be newsworthy, but I wanted to focus on their plans, not necessarily the past.

The first committee of the day was Budget, Finance, and Taxation. The committee heard from staff regarding the proposed tiered rate system for stormwater collection rates. Staff presented the video presentation that city residents will see when they enter the portal to learn about their new (mostly higher) rates. Please note that these tiers are on top of the rate increases that will be recommended by Stantec for normal usage.

The Stantec representative stated that the mapping done to establish the new tiers to which properties belong was done via satellite, with minimal work done on the ground. Thus, as councilmember Ed Montanari brought up while chairing this committee today, they could easily have missed features like houses on stilts or other features that would reduce the measured impervious square footage. It appears that roof overhangs would cause discrepancies, too. All residents should measure their own property to mitigate against adverse results. It would be better, though, if council simply decides to drop the plan altogether.

Montanari also noted that the current water bill sent to residents already states that the stormwater treatment portion of the bill is calculated by impervious square footage. Staff stated that they would adjust the language of the statement to reflect the switch to tiered rates.

Councilmember Darden Rice (District 4) asked about mitigation. She has a sump pump at her home, as well as a direct tie in from her gutter to the stormwater collection system. This doesn’t reduce the amount of water runoff, though, so she would not get a credit. Staff did answer Montanari’s follow up question by stating that any residents who have already installed rain barrels or other runoff reducing features would receive as much credit as if they had purchased new.

The committee then heard a report regarding the Social Action Fund. The Social Services Allocation Committee (8 citizens of Saint Petersburg and 1 council member, currently Amy Foster of District 8) recommended changes to the way that moneys are disbursed to agencies seeking reimbursement from the city for expenses related to helping the homeless. The Homeless Leadership Board will now be funded via the general fund, leaving more funding for other organizations.

But those organizations will now be forced to compete for the money,