St. Pete Beach committee reviews tentative FY26 budget; staff recommends $5.8 million transfer to resiliency fund

Devin Schmidt, the city finance director, presented the tentative fiscal-year 2026 budget and a set of new financial policies at the Aug. meeting of the St. Pete Beach Finance & Budget Committee, saying the packet was expanded so the city can apply for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Award.

Schmidt told the committee the draft budget includes a recommended transfer of $5,800,000 that had been set aside by a 2022 resolution but not previously included in the general fund balance used to launch the FY26 budget. The staff recommendation is to move that amount into a resiliency fund to be used for shoreline protection, seawall replacement, watershed management and adaptation projects identified under the city—s comprehensive plan.

Why it matters: moving the $5.8 million to a resiliency fund would make the money available for capital and adaptation projects and reduces the practice of using general-tax dollars to subsidize enterprise funds, staff said. The committee will forward recommendations to the full City Commission, which will consider the proposed budget and millage at two public hearings in September.

Key changes and policy proposals

- Fund-balance reconciliation and transfer: Schmidt said the city—s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the audit (completed July 31) revealed an unassigned general-fund balance item of $5,800,000 that had not been carried into the tentative budget. Staff recommends transferring that amount into the…