St. Petersburg voters have given city hall the green light to borrow up to $600 million for stormwater, wastewater and drinking-water upgrades, a measure that passed Nov. 3 with broad support across Pinellas County precincts. The city says it will now shift from campaign mode into the work of planning and delivering the projects the bond is meant to fund.
According to unofficial county results reported by Florida Politics, the bond referendum passed with 74% support, drawing 73,280 votes in favor against 25,811 opposed. The City of St. Petersburg thanked residents on Facebook the day after the election, writing simply, “St. Petersburg, thank you for making your voices heard!”
The General Obligation Bond Referendum authorizes the city to borrow up to $600 million specifically for stormwater, wastewater and potable water infrastructure improvements, according to the city's official bond page. City officials describe the intended scope broadly: floodwater protection, stormwater pump stations, drainage infrastructure, wastewater collection and treatment facilities, and drinking-water distribution and supply facilities are all listed as eligible uses, per the city's referendum materials.
Where the Money Is Headed
City officials say more than half of the $600 million is earmarked for protecting St. Petersburg's water and wastewater utilities from storm surge, a priority that reflects the city's exposure to coastal flooding. The bond falls under the city's broader St. Pete Agile Resilience framework, known as SPAR, which the city describes as an accelerated approach to strengthening infrastructure and building long-term resilience to climate challenges.
That framework already anticipates advancing more than $545 million in additional investments over five years, money the city says is already allocated in existing budgets, separate from the newly approved bond funds. Before the election, WUSF reported that at the pace of funding utility rates alone could support, finishing identified SPAR projects would take roughly 24 years. A pre-election analysis from St Pete Catalyst projected that the general obligation bond would cut the estimated completion timeline for $2.7 billion in SPAR projects down from about 24 years to approximately 19 years.
What It Means for Property Owners
The city says the bond will be repaid through a dedicated property-tax millage over time, with an estimated impact of roughly 0.96 mills — about $96 per year for every $100,000 of a property's taxable value. City officials have framed that cost alongside pledges of accountability: bond-funded projects will be subject to City Council oversight, annual budget review and public reporting, the city says.
St. Petersburg also plans to roll out public dashboards and hold yearly public meetings so residents can track project details, timelines and costs as work gets underway. The city has described its approach as grounded in transparency, fiscal responsibility and ongoing community engagement as the bond moves from ballot measure to construction.
Support Was Building for Weeks
The lopsided final tally followed polling that showed a less certain but still favorable picture in the campaign's final stretch. A St. Pete Polls survey of 478 likely voters conducted Oct. 22–23, with a reported margin of error of 4.5 percentage points, found nearly 45% support for the bond compared with nearly 21% opposition, according to Florida Politics. Roughly 35% of respondents were undecided or declined to answer at the time, leaving plenty of room for the eventual outcome to swing further in the measure's favor once voters actually cast ballots.
With the referendum now passed, the city says its focus turns to translating the $600 million authorization into actual construction and upgrades across St. Petersburg's water systems. Officials have not detailed a specific project-by-project schedule, but have pointed to the dashboards and annual meetings as the mechanism residents can use to watch the money move from approval to pipes in the ground.
