- Wayne Garcia
- Mayor Iorio and the City Council discuss the budget in 2008
It has been years since crowds formed at City Hall for Tampa's annual late summer budget hearings. The last time citizens showed serious concern during those discussions was in the mid-aughts, when the region's property values were ablaze, creating bigger tax bills for homeowners.
In recent years, Mayors Iorio and Buckhorn have had to find creative ways to solve multi-million dollar budget gaps. But under the city's strong-mayor form of government, it will be Buckhorn's vision that the City Council will ultimately decide to support or not.
Back in March, City Councilwoman Yolie Capin recommended that the City Council hire its own budget analyst to master the details of Buckhorn's fiscal year 2014 budget. Her colleagues agreed they should further discuss the idea; the workshop is scheduled for this Thursday.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2013.