After Gov. Ron DeSantis posted an infographic on Wednesday outlining what he described as “irresponsible uses of taxpayer funds” in several cities and counties across the state, the city of St. Petersburg is offering clarification on specific claims made against it.
Along with grievances against Jacksonville, Pensacola, Gainesville, Orlando and Alachua, Orange, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Broward counties, the infographic[1] outlined two areas of concern in St. Pete.
It claimed the city had spent[2] $258,000 from city utility and emergency management services (EMS) funds to support St. Pete Pride events and $307,000 on “a climate action plan to drive Green New Deal initiatives.”
The city operates on an approximately $1 billion budget – the 2025/26 fiscal year budget is $1.1 billion[3]. That means both flagged expenditures represent just a fraction of 1% of the total budget.
The Governor’s infographic followed a series of audits[4] conducted across the state under the newly created Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by new Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.
The city issued a lengthy statement on Thursday, outlining what officials believe the graphic was referencing and clarifying the spending.
On the Pride item, the city claims the DOGE finding needs context.
The statement said city officials “assume” the state arrived at its $258,000 number by calculating the in-kind contributions the city made for the annual Pride event, which is hosted independently by St. Pete Pride. The figure actually comes from two fiscal years – just shy of $120,000 in 2024 and a little over $138,000 in the current year.
St. Pete Pride is what the city considers a “co-sponsored event,” which is an event predominantly hosted by outside groups or organizations but supported in some way by the city. City Council approves any expenditures – either direct or in-kind – through the annual budget process. The City Council approved providing half the total cost, up to $300,000 per year, for in-kind services, including police and other emergency management services. The total cost was just over $239,000 in 2024 and a little less than $277,000 in 2025. Half of that cost was reimbursed to the city from event hosts St. Pete Pride. [5]
Regarding the state’s claim about spending more than $300,000 on a climate action plan, the city again “assumes” the state is referencing “costs incurred related to the Professional services paid to Vanasse Hangen Bristling Inc. in 2017 to assist in developing the City’s Integrated Sustainability Action Plan (ISAP) Technical Report,” which cost $308,000.
Here, the city’s explanation was more forceful. First, most of the cost (in excess of $292,000) was funded through BP’s Deepwater Horizon settlement funds. The rest, less than $15,000, was financed by the city’s General Fund in fiscal years 2017 through 2019.
And the city points out that the ISAP was established under the previous Mayor Rick Kriseman.
The ISAP program[6] includes climate action goals such as transitioning to 100% clean energy, increasing environmental stewardship and resilience and racial justice.
While the city’s statement did not directly criticize the DOGE process or the findings – a full report from DOGE has not yet been released, and a request for it from Florida Politics has not yet been answered – it did seek to shore up support from residents.
“As you can see from the above, the City of St. Petersburg values transparency and hopes that this information provides clarification on City spending. The City is committed to the idea of ‘Government in the Sunshine’ and the responsible, documented use of government resources,” the statement read.
“The City works to enhance government transparency by providing access to the financial and budgetary processes on our website and through OpenGov. We encourage any residents who have questions about the City’s budget to review the documents posted on our website at StPete.org/Budget[7].”
And the statement included at least one zinger.
“It should be noted that neither of the expenditures called out were funded by property taxes,” it said, a reference to DeSantis’ priority to eliminate property taxes and Ingoglia’s statements claiming leaner budgets can allow local governments to slash property taxes.
The letter informing the city that it would be the subject of a DOGE audit specifically referenced “the annual burden on property tax.”
References
- ^ infographic (x.com)
- ^ the city had spent (www.flgov.com)
- ^ the 2025/26 fiscal year budget is $1.1 billion (www.wtsp.com)
- ^ series of audits (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ co-sponsored event (www.stpeteparksrec.org)
- ^ The ISAP program (www.stpete.org)
- ^ StPete.org/Budget (StPete.org)