Planning commission staff on Jan. 12 briefed commissioners on the City of Tampa’s 2026 redistricting effort, presenting four alternatives that staff say would reduce population deviation across council districts to below the 5% threshold.

“Since 2020, nearly 20,000 individuals have moved to the city of Tampa,” Yassir Gonzalez, planning commission staff, told the commission, noting population shifts that prompted the redistricting work. Gonzalez said each proposed alternative would bring the difference between the most and least populous districts to under 5 percent, using surgical precinct moves (one to three precincts per alternative) to balance districts.

Staff described outreach to date — 3,000 targeted emails to frequent border-area voters and neighborhood organizations, more than 50 online survey responses so far, media coverage and social media outreach — and announced six open houses (four in person, two virtual) beginning the next day. Gonzalez said the survey will remain open until about one week before the final hearing (the last week of February), and that summary results will be included with the technical memo for the March final hearing.

The presentation emphasized that the commission’s role is advisory under the city’s process and that the commission will see the alternatives again during public hearings in February and March. Staff said the public hearings are mandated by the city charter, and that commissioners will have opportunities for questions and individual briefings before any final advisory action.

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