Affordability
Everyone I meet agrees that affordability is the number one issue facing our city and our nation.
I served as Governor during the Great Recession, and I was the last person to actually address the property tax issue in our state when I doubled our homestead exemptions. I signed into law House Bill 5B which let voters consider Amendment 1, which included an additional homestead benefit, limited property value increases for non-homesteaded property, and created portability for the Save Our Homes (caps property tax assessment increases at 3% annually) that allows homeowners to transfer their existing homestead exemption when they move into a new home. The Amendment was approved by voters in January 2008.
No Governor has successfully addressed making property taxes more affordable since then. Meanwhile, the city has seen a 50% increase in property tax revenue during the current administration’s tenure. Property tax dollars account for roughly half of the General Fund revenue. Our budget growth has outpaced population growth and the inflation rate. The administration has used that to increase the size of government when it could be passing savings onto its citizens.
As the city continues to rebuild after hurricanes, property tax revenue will only increase as property values rise. This presents an opportunity to pass real financial relief onto our residents via millage rate reductions. While the current administration will claim that they’ve reduced property taxes, they’ve only reduced the millage rate by 0.0725 over the entire course of their term, a reduction that doesn’t even pace inflation.
I also signed legislation expanding the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, preventing insurance companies from raising rates without state approval, from dropping policyholders during hurricane season, and from delaying payment of claims. As a result, statewide homeowners’ insurance premiums declined 10% from 2007 to 2010.
A recurring theme of my career is fighting cost-of-living battles through public-private partnerships and transparency tools rather than through price caps or direct government spending.
As Governor, I proved my willingness to tackle issues of affordability in creative ways. In 2008 Florida had an estimated 3.8 million residents without health insurance, Florida’s uninsured rate was the third-highest in the nation. I worked to address this problem by creating the Cover Florida Healthcare Access Program. I worked directly with 6 insurance companies to allow them to offer less expensive plans by lifting some government mandates regarding what insurance companies were required to pay for. The insurers were required to offer at least two plans – one with catastrophic and hospital coverage, and one without. Each Cover Florida plan included a minimum set of benefits covering preventative services, screenings, office visits, outpatient and inpatient surgery, urgent care and prescription drugs. Cover Florida plans started at about $150 a month compared to the typical $600 a month for standard private insurance at the time. This plan was passed unanimously by the Florida Legislature. The plan did not use any tax dollars. Ultimately, the federal Affordable Care Act made it unnecessary to continue Cover Florida.
I have worked throughout my career to address the cost of prescription drugs to make them more affordable for Floridians. As Attorney General, I launched MyFloridaRX.com, where Floridians could compare drug prices between pharmacies. As Governor, I leveraged the strength of the office to negotiate lower prices for Floridians and created the Florida Discount Drug Card Program. Rather than creating a government subsidy, I established a public-private partnership with Envision Pharmaceutical Services (EPS) that made the discounts possible. EPS, a pharmacy benefits manager, secured volume discounts on prescription drugs and passed savings onto consumers. Participating pharmacies had to agree to the negotiated prices. No tax dollars were used to make the Florida Discount Drug Card available. The program funded itself. If the pharmacy’s usual price was lower than the Florida Discount Drug price, the customer paid the lower price. Additionally, if the customer qualified for any other prescription discounts, they would always pay the lowest price. At launch, the card was targeted at seniors and lower-income Floridians without drug coverage. Within the first year, more than 3,000 retail pharmacies agreed to accept the Florida Discount Drug Card. In one of my final major acts as governor, I opened the program to everyone: no age limit, no income requirements. There were no waiting periods, no pre-existing condition restrictions, no membership fees, and the card instantly activated. The program still operates today at FloridaDiscountDrugCard.com.
Alongside the drug card, I launched a consumer health information portal. The website, developed by the Agency for Health Care Administration, integrated FloridaCompareCare.gov and FloridaHealthStat.com into FloridaHealthFinder.gov. Consumers can find information on more than 1,600 diseases and conditions, lists of health care facilities, information about insurance, medications, and a variety of consumer publications.
I have always been a consumer advocate and will continue to be one as Mayor. I have a proven track record of success leveraging my office to benefit my constituents. I’ve always been willing to find market based solutions to better serve the people I serve, and I’ll do it again for the people of St. Petersburg as we continue to face an affordability crisis.
In recent years, the city has also experienced challenges with its water billing, with some residents, particularly after the 2024 hurricanes, getting hit with unexpected bills that were in many cases triple or more their typical cost.
The Water Cost Stabilization Fund was established 27 years ago to mitigate cost increases to citizens’ water bills. It currently has about $85 million and remains untouched. Some of those funds could be used to install new water meters, allowing citizens to view their water usage online and prevent surprise bills due to unknown leaks. Funds could also be used to identify problems with existing water meters, a problem that came to light after many residents displaced by hurricanes received triple their usual water bills for vacant homes. While St. Petersburg is currently exploring an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program, we are woefully behind Pinellas County, which is already installing digital meters, and Pinellas Park, which uses an application “Eye on Water” where residents can track daily and hourly water use online or via phone.
The city is currently losing approximately $4 million dollars a year in water it is providing but not billing for because of infrastructure issues. There was an unsolicited proposal to provide these meters as a service. The vendor would get all financing, install and maintain the meters. Council voted unanimously to approve and the Mayor’s office delayed the project because they believe they can get it done at a lower cost… all while losing money and not providing relief to our residents. Closer analysis of the different funding mechanisms show the cost difference is negligible once you calculate the lost revenue and difference in the rate interest would accrue on the debt for the meters.
As Mayor, I will make it a priority to get the AMI program online.