Budgeting for Strategic Outcomes
Fiscal Year 2023 Operating and Capital Budget
Strategic Goals: Strengthening Tampa’s Foundation
The City of Tampa’s mission is to deliver outstanding services to enhance the quality of life within our community.
Strategic Core - Financial Opportunities and Responsibilities
The City will manage investing, fiscal analysis, budgeting, debt and asset management, and accounting and payroll functions and establish, maintain, and enforce fiscal policies, practices and procedures. The City will deliver financial services based on public sector best practices, encouraging improved services and processes, performance, and accountability.
Responsibly manage the City’s finances and resources. The City will maintain structural balance by keeping recurring expenses in-line with recurring revenues and maintain high credit ratings to ensure low borrowing costs. The City will also maintain strong reserves and fund balances for unforeseen needs and emergencies
Prepare for the City’s financial future. The City will periodically review and adjust rates, fees, and charges to reflect the cost of services and continue to promote excellence in budgeting and financial reporting. The City will develop and maintain long-range forecast models to measure the effectiveness of budgetary and financial decisions.
Collaborate with city agencies and external partners to finance major development projects and ensure a financially sustainable Tampa. The City will use tax increment funding to combat blight and to promote economic development and seek matching and “seed” funds to leverage grants and other assistance.
Invest in maintaining and sustaining the City infrastructure. The City will leverage investments in technology to move toward a more sustainable workforce that is safe and secure and prepare sound maintenance and replacement programs for City equipment and assets, including buildings and vehicles.
The City has identified five strategic goals that guide our actions and help meet current challenges while providing a path for long-term community prosperity, balanced around the core of resource stability:
- Strengthen Community-Centric Services
- Enhance Workforce Development
- Increase Housing Affordability
- Improve Infrastructure and Mobility
- Sustainability and Resilience
Strategic Goal 1 – Strengthening Community-Centric Services
The Chief Diversity Officer will continue to focus on staff recruitment to ensure there is a pipeline of diverse, qualified applicants who can compete for employment opportunities within the City of Tampa. This will be accomplished by marketing to minority professional organizations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and bringing an awareness of the opportunities at cultural events.
Providing a platform for culturally diverse groups to have a voice within City Hall, strengthens Tampa’s communities. The Chief Diversity Officer will continue to support the creation of the Mayor’s Advisory Councils that represent the community at large. In addition to the Mayor’s Alliance for Persons with Disabilities, the African American, Hispanic, Asian American Pacific Island Advisory Councils, a Faith-based Advisory Council and internal LGBTQ committee will be created to support the needs of the community and internal staff, respectively.
Creativity, empathy, equity, and inclusion will be brought to the forefront of the community through the Soul Walk Heritage Tour of Tampa. In partnership with local museums and stakeholders, the Arts and Community Programs will elevate and celebrate those lost areas in the fabric of Tampa’s History.
The City of Tampa will continue to be intentional about ensuring unrepresentative businesses are afforded with opportunity to compete on government contracts by hosting Bridges to Business workshops, and Equal Business Opportunities training seminars.
Strategic Goal 2 – Enhance Workforce Development
Further expand and advance the Workforce Community Collaborative and ecosystem by working on the 5 policy areas identified in the Focus on Five annual report: Awareness & Outreach, Metrics, Apprenticeships & Pathways, Digital Access and Engaging Returning Workers.
Support & Enhance A Career Pathways Model by continuing to expand the innovative signing day model for career pathway event and explore new modalities to attract talent to apprenticeship and other career learning opportunities creating new points of access.
Align educational resources by utilizing the MWC and it’s working groups to identify point of intersection and collaboration and link to online resources like TPA-WRX.
Align educational resources by creating a dashboard to inform on the vibrancy of opportunities in Tampa’s growing economy.
Strategic Goal 3 – Improving Housing Affordability
Work Together with Partners to add 10,000 units by 2027. With nearly 6,000 affordable housing units planned, in permitting, or under construction, the City continues to employ grant funding, tax credits, and the conveyance of City property for the creation of sustainable affordable housing units.
Community Land Trust. The City of Tampa continues to work to establish a Community Land Trust that supports the creation of affordable housing options throughout the City in perpetuity. Through collaboration with the Florida Housing Coalition and local nonprofits, the Community Land Trust will support community-driven stable housing development.
Increase Opportunities for Generational Wealth. The City expanded the availability of services that help accelerate home ownership and build wealth through the expansion of its Down Payment Assistance Program (D.A.R.E.) and Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Program. These programs serve families that are between 80% and 140% of the Area Median Income. The City continues to provide rental assistance, credit and budget counseling to help renters and existing homeowners to achieve housing security and expand their housing options.
Expand the Continuum of Housing Solutions. The City worked with Hillsborough County and nonprofit partners to implement long-term solutions to homelessness, beginning with short-term shelters, rapid rehousing, and wraparound services as a pathway to permanent housing stability.
Strategic Goal 4 – Improve Infrastructure and Mobility
The City will include development of a planned “low-stress” network, roads and paths that are safe and comfortable for people who walk and bike, and establishment of a citywide roadway context classification system which will links roadway design to the City’s future land use vision.
Additionally, multimodal impact fee policies, which have not been substantially updated in decades, will be modernized to reflect the City’s changing goals and values.
Create premium transit corridors along the major transportation spine of the City, connecting the Westshore District to Downtown, and connecting Downtown to the University Area/Innovation District.
- Modernization of the Tampa Streetcar System and Extension to Tampa Heights – The City will conclude remaining Project Development and Engineering (PD&E) efforts, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and Cultural Resources Assessment Survey requirements in support of establishing the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). The City will continue to collaborate with HART on updating the Tri-Party governance documents that reflect the new modernized and extended system. Continue preliminary engineering design and submit state and federal grant applications for construction of the Tampa Streetcar system modernization and extension of the line from Whiting Street to Palm Avenue.
- Downtown to University Transit Emphasis Corridor
- The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) received an $18M Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) grant from for the Tampa Heights Mobility Corridor which will support rehabilitation of the Tampa and Florida Avenue corridors with improved stormwater systems, wider sidewalks, bicycle lanes shifted to lower stress parallel streets, and most significantly – dedicated lanes for transit. The City will actively support FDOT throughout the life of this project and support Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) as the agency progresses through a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan along the roads. The City will also finalize the transit-oriented development (TOD) recommendations led by HART and adopt land use and zoning recommendations for the station areas along the corridor.
- The City will also work with the FDOT through a reimagining of Fowler Avenue, further connecting the improvements along Tampa and Florida east to the heart of the University area. As one of the City’s identified High Injury Network corridors, much-needed safety improvements will occur on Fowler Avenue. The City will continue to advocate for Fowler Avenue to be a gateway boulevard with dedicated transit lanes through improvements to the roadway network and surrounding land use framework.
Implement PIPES. Healthy infrastructure is the foundation of a strong city - which is why the City of Tampa launched the Progressive Infrastructure Plan to Ensure Sustainability (PIPES) program. With PIPES, the City of Tampa is investing in Tampa’s tomorrow by taking a proactive approach to renew our infrastructure, prevent breakdowns, and provide long-term, permanent fixes to our water and wastewater systems. The City has completed 22 PIPES projects worth over $66M and we have a total of 90 PIPES projects worth over $1B, 22 of which have been completed and closed out.
The capital improvement program budget is funded by water rate revenues and water system revenue bonds. The department’s capital improvement budget includes projects that provide for replacement of aging water distribution system infrastructure, upgrades and replacements needed at treatment facilities and remote pump stations, other projects that enhance the water system operations by leveraging the use of technology, and proactively provide a sustainable water supply for the region.
This plan includes $107.9 million of capital improvements to the City’s aging water distribution system infrastructure and facilities and includes the valve, hydrant, existing meter and fire line replacement programs, new water meter service installations, and water main replacement projects.
The Water Production Program’s capital budget of $112.3 million includes capital improvements that optimize treatment, improve treated water quality, reduce operating costs, and enhance treatment and operations such as the construction of the high service pump station, chemical system improvements, filter improvements, water department building improvements.
Integrate the Existing Trail and Greenways. The City will integrate the existing trails and greenways system into the transportation network to provide safe and convenient alternatives to driving a car. The City executed a $24 million federal BUILD grant agreement during FY22 and advertised the RFP for procurement of a Design-Build contract to complete final design and construction of the West River District Multi-Modal Network and Safety Improvements for an extension of 6 miles of multi-modal facilities including 2 along the west riverbank, which will ultimately result in over 12 miles of contiguous trails connecting Gandy to Ybor City. In FY23, the City’s Design-Build team will begin the initial stages of design while maintaining constant communication with the community.
Implement the Vision Zero Action Plan – Year 1. Vision Zero is a strategy that seeks to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries nationwide while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. The City is committed to integrate Vision Zero into all projects and programs. In FY22, the City completed the Vision Zero Action Plan which identified the most critical streets in the City as the “High Injury Network” and prioritized the highest needs for safety investments. Beginning in FY23, the City will begin to implement the actions identified in the Plan such as initiate a “Quick Build” program – a tactic to more rapidly deploy safety treatments across the city in a cost-effective way using semi-permanent materials. The first two Quick Build projects include 14th Street/Avenida Republica de Cuba near Cuscaden Park and North Boulevard near the University of Tampa campus, both roads which were identified on the City’s high injury network. The City will continue with the successful and award-winning Crosswalks to Classrooms program with artfully painted murals within crosswalks near schools, which signify to drivers that roads are places for people – not just cars. The City will also continue to plan Open Street and “Unlock the Block” events which temporarily close neighborhood roads to cars and open streets to people for play, meeting neighbors, and enjoying the beautiful Florida outdoors.
Plan and Construct Compete Streets The City will continue to utilize low-cost traffic control devices that can be installed quickly to improve operations and safety and mobility experience of residents throughout neighborhood streets and adjacent collector and arterial roadways. These include installing enhanced crosswalks with Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB’s), Dynamic Speed Feedback Signs, All-Way Stop control at intersections, painted curb extensions, flex posts and other signs and pavement marking treatment to reduce posted speeds on higher speed roadways.
The City recently completed its sidewalk prioritization methodology which identified the locations with greatest need for new sidewalks, resulting in more proactive and equitable use of limited resources to build new sidewalks in areas of the community where there are the greatest needs. During FY23, the City will use funds awarded as part of the American Rescue Plan Ace (ARPA) and various sources to procure a new sidewalk construction contract to construct two (2) miles or more of new sidewalks.
Strategic Goal 5 - Sustainability & Resilience
Promote Connected, Healthy, and Vibrant Neighborhoods through sustainability and resilience. The City will release a Climate Action & Equity Plan, kicking-off several new projects and policies that address alternative transportation, renewable energy, and community services that promote sustainable and resilient living. The City will support several neighborhood level studies to determine vulnerabilities and needs and prioritize action to address issues such as urban heat, coastal protection, and water security.
Integrate Sustainability & Resiliency. The City will lead by example and install hundreds of new solar panels, implement new energy savings programs, transition city fleets to electric vehicles, and ensure our workforce and city practices are meeting high levels of sustainability and resilience best practices.
Increase the Coordination and Collaboration. The City will continue to increase the coordination and collaboration between regional partners that have shared sustainability and resilience goals. The will support the work of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, neighborhood associations, key stakeholders, and private sector partners who wish to advance sustainability and resilience initiatives.