After Mayor Jane Castor presented her 2022 budget this morning, Tampa City Council unanimously approved—and invited the public to—a budget workshop on Monday, Aug. 16 at 5:01 p.m.
City Councilman John Dingfelder called for the workshop, expressing concern that there often wasn’t enough time to hammer out the details of past budgets without a workshop.
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“What we’ve seen in prior years, is we get to the September hearings, and then all of a sudden if we want to add something or suggest something then we’re all scrambling and we have to do last-minute budget amendments,” Dingfelder said.
His suggestion and concerns were backed by multiple other council members. After discussion, they decided on the August date to review the budget and see what community members think.
Councilman Guido Maniscalco mentioned that the workshop could help the upcoming September budget meetings go more smoothly and that the City Council Citizens Advisory Budget and Finance Committee should be involved in the workshop. The meeting was initially set for 1:30 p.m., but Councilman Orlando Gudes motioned to change the time to 5:01 p.m. to make the meeting more accessible to Tampeños who might be working in the afternoon. Public comment will be held at the end of the workshop instead of the beginning, and logistics regarding the exact physical space and virtual options are still being worked out.
Tampa’s 2022 budget can be viewed at the OpenGov website.
"Our residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent," Mayor Castor said in a press release. "As good financial stewards, we want to make it as easy and transparent as possible for the public to engage with our budget process. OpenGov provides the 21st-century tools to visualize meaningful data that showcases how funds are spent to keep the city running and transform Tampa's tomorrow."
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This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2021.