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Editorial: Tampa budget reflects right priorities

 
Published July 22, 2016

The 2017 city budget that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn proposed Thursday reflects the right priorities at the right time. After years of investing heavily to redevelop downtown, Buckhorn is spending money on everyday needs, from the maintenance of parks, roadways and bridges to upgrades in buildings and public works that are showing their age after decades. This is a Wheaties budget that should help shore up billions of dollars in public and private investment and improve the neighborhoods' quality of life.

Buckhorn and his predecessor, Pam Iorio, spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade to energize downtown, building parks and museums that helped to attract thousands of residents and rebuild a commercial core in the now-hopping city center. With the final pieces of the 3-mile Riverwalk coming together after 40 years of planning, and with new infrastructure being laid to redevelop downtown's eastern and western flanks, the city is rightly turning its focus to other needs. It has set the table for downtown's rebirth, and now it's time for private developers to capitalize on that foundation.

At $906 million, Buckhorn's spending plan is slightly higher than last year's budget, though the increase is largely due to the hiring of a handful of additional employees and higher pension and health care costs. The city's property tax rate would remain the same, and the city's cash reserves — which go untouched — would remain healthy, affording the city lower borrowing costs. It is a conservative plan that takes advantage of four straight years of rising property values, lower unemployment and higher home prices, and it makes strategic investments in key needs across the city.

Downtown, of course, is hardly being ignored. Buckhorn would spend more than $6 million on aging downtown bridges, add shade to Curtis Hixon Park and upgrade the Tampa Convention Center. The City Council also recently approved a big-ticket plan to renovate Riverfront Park along the western bank of the Hillsborough River, which the mayor sees as a central draw to a new mixed-use community between downtown and West Tampa.

The City Council should build on this momentum by approving a stormwater plan this fall that would begin to confront Tampa's serious flooding problems. It's not sexy to address bread-and-butter needs, but flooding poses a serious public safety risk and a threat to property and business. New residents and industry will not consider Tampa if the city cannot deliver on the basics.

Buckhorn has ably guided the city during the uneven economic recovery. The employee unions need to temper their demands for raises in the coming year; the city, like the nation, still has a way to go. Though the economic outlook is stabilizing, a payroll spike could upend the budget. That would hurt city workers as much as the city itself. Buckhorn has proposed a budget that will serve the city well and not bust the bank over the long term. It is a responsible plan that moves the city forward and improves the quality of everyday services.