Tampa — Tampa City Council on Dec. 2 took up a lengthy discussion about whether stormwater assessment dollars and stormwater personnel should be used to support parades and other special events, ultimately moving the item for staff presentation and limiting public comment on item 64 to a total of 15 minutes.

The issue began as an agenda amendment and expanded into a technical briefing from city staff and a large block of public comment. John Bennett, the mayor’s chief of staff, told the council the administration had reviewed requests to the Social Action and Arts funds and had also been examining how stormwater and event budgets interact. “We have worked down the 87 requests for $5,400,000 through the strategic lens that council had asked for,” Bennett said during his presentation.

Budget staff and stormwater managers described a multi‑fund approach to events. Mike Perry of Revenue and Finance said the city had committed a minimum transfer from the general fund into the stormwater service fund (historically $2,000,000) and that council-authorized changes in 2024–25 raised that amount. “That a part of that money is used for the estimated cost of the special events,” Perry said when explaining how transfers and estimates flow between funds.

Brandon Campbell, interim director of the mobility department (which includes stormwater operations), told council that for the last year of complete data the total stormwater-related spend on events was “just under $250,000,” and that much of the work recorded against events is labor and equipment rather than materials. Campbell added that half of those event hours were overtime and that event work represents roughly the equivalent of 1.5 full-time equivalents when taken in aggregate.

Council members pressed staff for more detail. Councilman Carlson said the public had seen photos and video showing neighborhoods with long‑neglected retention ponds and culverts and asked for a clear accounting of how money moves between accounts. “We should have a workshop on this, and there needs to be a full accounting and probably hire a forensic accounting person to go back and see whether the money really did come out of the general fund or not,” Carlson said.

Residents and civic groups who spoke during the item argued both for and against allowing stormwater resources to support events. Several speakers urged the council to prioritize maintenance and capital work to prevent flooding; one speaker cited state law and told the council that the assessment fund “must be used for the purpose of planning, construction, operations, and maintenance of stormwater management systems, not parades, events, not even safety.” Other business and community representatives thanked staff for safety and event-management work and urged clarity about charges and reimbursements.

The council approved moving item 64 to occur immediately after ceremonial items and adopted the amendment to limit public comment on 64 to a total of 15 minutes (the council later agreed to allow a small number of additional speakers by vote). Council members repeatedly directed staff to return with a more detailed, multi-year accounting of event-related labor, overtime, and transfers (records requested back to 2017) and to schedule a holistic workshop to consider code changes, reimbursement policy and level-of-service definitions.

What’s next: Staff told council they will upload supporting materials and produce a workshop to discuss event funding, code clarifications and whether more costs should be charged to promoters. The council also asked for clearer P&L-style tracking for individual large events and for an analysis of the cost to outsource event-related labor versus in-house provision.