TAMPA, Fla. — Like many in Tampa, David Jones said he couldn’t afford to live on his own.
"I personally have to live with four other people to afford housing in the city of Tampa," Jones said.
The affordable housing crisis has hit Tampa hard, and that’s why Jones, who works with the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee, said the city needs to do even more to help.
The new proposed $1.9 billion budget includes $5.5 million in general fund money toward housing affordability and $20 million for housing-related services.
“The needs of the people clearly aren’t being met," Jones continued. "We are seeing an egregious rise in the homeless population. We are seeing a lot more people struggle to pay their bills."
A big part of the budget is new contracts, including raises for city workers represented by one of Tampa’s three unions.
“We raised the salaries of City of Tampa employees, which is very important; 18.5% over the next three years," Tampa city council member Luis Viera said. "Inflation has been very big. When you look at our sanitation workers, our police officers, our firefighters, our parks workers. Everybody wants to support those men and women and the families they support."
The budget also includes two added construction crews to handle infrastructure improvements and repairs, as well as the creation of a premium transit corridor to connect Westshore to downtown and downtown to the University area.
After Tuesday, there will be one more budget hearing on Sept. 20 before the city council votes on the budget.
