Tampa City Council held a second hearing to discuss the budget for the City of Tampa for fiscal year 2024.
After more than six hours of discussion on potential cuts and funding, the council voted unanimously on the new budget.
Earlier this month, the council struck down a millage rate increase which would have increased taxes for homeowners.
Mayor Jane Castor said the 16% tax hike would have addressed the city's infrastructure problems and helped with road improvements. It would have cost homeowners about $20 more each month.
The council discussed the budget on Tuesday during a meeting. The city needs to close a $45 million gap since council members did not approve a millage rate increase.
During public comment on Tuesday, people urged the city to fund affordable housing, saying there is a housing crisis in Tampa and people cannot afford to live in the city.
"Affordable housing is truly a crisis, and there has been a storm that hit Tampa, and its name is inflation," one woman said. "We've been hit by higher gas prices, taxes, insurance, everything coming at the exact same time."
Fire officials also spoke about the need for Fire Station 24 and the need for more firefighters and paramedics.
"Fire rescue has deficits that go decades in the making. Not years, decades in the making, and it's time to stop kicking the can down to road and start fixing what we should have done a long time ago."
The council plans to allocate $12 million to affordable housing. The council also voted to take $7 million in parking revenue and use it to fix roads. The council also said it plans to take $16 million in community investment tax and allocate $8 million to fire and another $8 million to the police department.
There were talks of potentially cutting the River O' Green Fest and Boom by the Bay, but Councilman Luis Viera said they would not cut a celebration of heritage or defund the Fourth of July.
Viera explained they basically pulled funding from places where they wanted to spend more. Instead, they cut back so they could allocate that money elsewhere. That's why the city didn't see any major cuts. They also looked into the reserves.
The meeting lasted until about 11 p.m. The City Council voted to approve the budget and voted to keep the mileage rate the same at 6.2076 mills.
