St. Petersburg is an incredible place to live, work, build a business, raise a family, retire, and visit. But for many residents, workers, and small business owners, the cost of staying in St. Petersburg is becoming harder to manage.
When people talk about affordability, they often focus only on housing. Housing matters. Rent and home prices matter. But affordability is bigger than one monthly payment.
Real affordability includes:
Rent or mortgage payments
Property taxes
Homeowners insurance
Flood insurance
Utility bills
Transportation and parking
Childcare and family expenses
Small-business costs
Wages and job access
Stormwater, flooding, and infrastructure costs
The long-term cost of public decisions
30-second summary: Doug Homeyer’s District 6 Affordability Agenda is simple: look at the full cost of living, put infrastructure before irresponsible growth, protect taxpayers, support small businesses and workers, and demand accountability from major public projects.
Doug believes City Council should look at affordability as a complete picture. A city can approve more development and still become less affordable. A city can talk about housing and still ignore utility bills, taxes, insurance, transportation, and small-business costs. A city can grow quickly and still leave residents paying for infrastructure that should have been planned earlier.
District 6 deserves a practical affordability agenda that looks at the full cost of living, not just one piece of it.
Doug’s view: “Affordability is more than housing. It is the full cost of staying in the city we love.”
For voters who want to review the City’s current work on related issues, the City of St. Petersburg provides public information on housing programs, current utility rates, stormwater planning, and flooding resources.
Doug Homeyer’s campaign is built around a simple idea:
Live Here. Work Here. Play Here. Visit Here.
Affordability affects all four.
Live Here: Residents need housing they can afford, utility bills they understand, safer neighborhoods, reliable infrastructure, and protection from flooding and displacement.
Work Here: Workers need wages and job access that allow them to remain part of the community. Small businesses need a City Hall that understands permitting, utility costs, parking, insurance pressure, construction disruption, and the cost of doing business.
Play Here: Parks, waterfront areas, arts spaces, restaurants, sidewalks, events, and public spaces should remain safe, accessible, and welcoming for residents, not just visitors.
Visit Here: Tourism and redevelopment can strengthen the local economy, but only if growth is managed responsibly, infrastructure is planned in advance, and public benefits are clear, measurable, and enforceable.
For Doug, affordability is not a single issue. It is the connection between housing, infrastructure, public safety, small business, tourism, taxes, utilities, transportation, and responsible growth.
Doug Homeyer brings a combination of finance, business ownership, civic involvement, nonprofit service, and community leadership to the District 6 race.
Doug is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Benefits Plus Financial in St. Petersburg. He previously served as President and Owner of Homeyer Insurance and as a Regional Manager with Colonial Life. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and holds professional designations including CLU®, ChFC®, LUTCF®, and RHU®.
Doug’s background also includes civic and nonprofit service. He serves in leadership with the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, including the Downtown Waterfront Committee, and is a Chamber Ambassador and Board of Governors member. He serves on the St. Anthony’s Hospital Foundation Board and Finance Committee, is a member of the Rotary Club of St. Petersburg, serves on the USF Economics Department Board of Advisors, and is connected to local entrepreneurship through the Greenhouse Entrepreneurial Academy.
Doug also regularly attends St. Petersburg City Council and committee meetings, attends neighborhood and public meetings, and continues traveling throughout St. Petersburg speaking directly with residents, workers, business owners, neighborhood leaders, and community organizations about city concerns.
That background matters because many City Council decisions are practical and financial decisions. Budgets, infrastructure, utility rates, redevelopment agreements, public land, stormwater projects, small-business conditions, public safety, taxes, and long-term obligations all require careful review, accountability, and common sense.
City Council does not control every cost residents face. It does not set private insurance rates. It does not control the national housing market. It does not decide mortgage rates. It cannot solve every affordability problem by itself.
But City Council does make decisions that affect the cost of daily life.
City Council votes on budgets, taxes, utility rates, development approvals, land use, zoning, public infrastructure, stormwater planning, public safety, parking, transportation, city-owned land, redevelopment agreements, and long-term public obligations.
Those decisions matter.
When infrastructure is delayed, residents pay.
When flooding gets worse, residents pay.
When utilities rise without enough explanation, residents pay.
When development is approved without public benefit, residents pay.
When small businesses face unnecessary delays and costs, customers and workers pay.
When public land is used without clear accountability, taxpayers pay.
Doug believes affordability should be part of every major City Council decision.
Residents who want to understand how the City allocates public money can review the City’s Budget and Finance page. The City also announced that St. Petersburg City Council approved a Fiscal Year 2026 budget of $976,228,519.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: City decisions affect all four parts of Doug’s framework. They affect whether people can Live Here through housing, utilities, taxes, public safety, and stormwater. They affect whether people can Work Here through permitting, infrastructure, local business conditions, and job access. They affect whether people can Play Here through parks, sidewalks, arts, events, safety, and public spaces. They affect whether people can Visit Here through tourism infrastructure, transportation, downtown conditions, waterfront investments, and the overall experience of the city.
Before supporting major city spending, redevelopment, utility increases, infrastructure plans, or land-use decisions, Doug believes City Council should ask practical questions:
What problem are we solving?
What will it cost?
Who pays for it?
Who benefits from it?
What are the long-term obligations?
Is the infrastructure ready?
Will this make it easier or harder for residents to stay here?
Will this help workers afford to live near their jobs?
Will this help small businesses survive and grow?
Are the public benefits clear, measurable, and enforceable?
How will the City report results back to the public?
Affordability requires more than good intentions. It requires disciplined decision-making.
Doug’s approach is not to oppose every new idea or approve every proposal. It is to ask whether the proposal is practical, transparent, financially responsible, and good for the people who live here, work here, play here, and visit here.
For more on Doug’s broader approach to District 6, visit the main Issues page and the June 2 District 6 Candidate Forum response.
Doug believes voters deserve more than broad statements. As a City Council member, Doug would work toward practical accountability measures, including:
Requiring plain-English fiscal-impact summaries for major redevelopment decisions, public land deals, utility-rate changes, and large infrastructure commitments.
Supporting annual public reporting on utility-rate-funded capital projects so residents can see what was promised, what was funded, what was completed, and what remains delayed.
Pushing for a District 6 infrastructure priority list covering stormwater, flooding, streets, sidewalks, lighting, parking, alleys, and public safety concerns.
Requiring a public-benefit checklist for major public land or redevelopment agreements.
Supporting faster, clearer, and more predictable permitting for homeowners, small businesses, and responsible local projects.
Supporting appropriate density where infrastructure, transportation, drainage, utilities, public safety, and neighborhood impacts are addressed honestly and in advance.
Publishing or supporting a District 6 listening process so residents, workers, and business owners can see what concerns are being raised and what follow-up is happening.
These commitments reflect Doug’s basic approach: listen carefully, study the numbers, ask hard questions, and make decisions that protect the public interest.
District 6 includes downtown, neighborhoods near major redevelopment areas, business corridors, historic communities, and parts of south St. Petersburg. Housing pressure is different in each area, but the concern is the same: people should not be priced out of the community they helped build.
Doug supports practical housing policies, within the City’s legal authority, that increase attainable housing while protecting neighborhood stability and respecting infrastructure limits.
That means the City should:
Use city-owned land carefully and strategically.
Require clear public benefit when public resources are used.
Support mixed-income housing where appropriate.
Preserve existing affordable housing where legally and financially feasible.
Protect tenants within the City’s legal authority.
Encourage rehabilitation and preservation of existing homes.
Make permitting more efficient for homeowners, small builders, and responsible housing projects.
Support housing near jobs, transit, and services when infrastructure can support it.
Support appropriate density where infrastructure, public benefits, transportation, drainage, utilities, public safety, and neighborhood impacts are addressed honestly and in advance.
Doug does not believe affordability should be reduced to slogans. The question is not simply whether a project uses the word “affordable.” The question is whether it actually helps residents, whether the affordability is real, whether it lasts, and whether the public understands the cost.
The City’s Housing Opportunities For All plan focuses on producing new affordable units, preserving existing affordable housing, and protecting tenants. Doug supports that general framework, but he believes voters also deserve practical accountability: how many units are created, how long they remain affordable, who qualifies, how projects are funded, and whether infrastructure and neighborhood impacts are addressed.
Voters can review the City’s housing resources, plans, and documents through the City’s Housing page, Housing Opportunities For All page, and Housing Documents page.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Housing affordability is primarily a Live Here issue, but it also affects Work Here because workers need to be able to live near their jobs. It affects Visit Here because restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and tourism businesses depend on workers who can afford to remain in the community. It also affects Play Here because a city loses part of its cultural life when artists, service workers, families, seniors, and long-time residents are pushed out.
Renters are affected by City decisions too.
Utility costs, stormwater fees, insurance, property taxes, redevelopment pressure, transportation, parking, infrastructure, and permitting delays can all show up in rent. When public decisions increase the cost of owning or operating property, renters often feel the effect through higher monthly housing costs.
Doug believes renters should be part of affordability conversations, especially when public land, public incentives, utility-rate decisions, zoning changes, or major redevelopment approvals are involved.
A practical affordability agenda should ask:
How will this decision affect renters?
Will this create or preserve attainable rental housing?
Will public benefits actually reach working residents?
Will affordability commitments last long enough to matter?
Are tenant impacts being considered early, not after decisions are made?
Are transportation, utilities, and infrastructure costs being included in the affordability discussion?
District 6 includes renters, homeowners, seniors, students, workers, families, service employees, entrepreneurs, and long-time residents. City policy should recognize that affordability looks different depending on where someone lives, how they work, and what costs they face.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Renter stability is a Live Here issue, but it also affects Work Here because many workers rent, Play Here because renters contribute to local culture and community life, and Visit Here because the hospitality and tourism economy depends on people who can afford to live near opportunity.
Utility bills are part of affordability.
Water, wastewater, stormwater, reclaimed water, sanitation, and related city fees affect residents, renters, homeowners, landlords, restaurants, offices, nonprofits, and small businesses.
Doug understands that infrastructure must be maintained and improved. St. Petersburg cannot ignore aging systems, flooding, stormwater, sewer capacity, water reliability, sanitation needs, or long-term resilience. But residents also deserve transparency before costs increase.
As of July 2026, the City is considering FY2027 utility-rate adjustments for water, wastewater, reclaimed water, stormwater, and sanitation, with final adoption scheduled for a public hearing on August 27, 2026. Proposed utility-rate changes would take effect October 1, 2026, if approved by City Council.
Doug believes utility and fee decisions should be clear, understandable, and tied to specific needs.
Before supporting increases, Doug would want to know:
What projects will the increase fund?
Why is the increase necessary now?
What alternatives were considered?
How will the City protect residents on fixed incomes?
How will the increase affect renters and small businesses?
What accountability measures will show whether the money is being used effectively?
How will the City communicate progress to the public?
Residents should not have to be experts in city finance to understand why their bills are going up.
For current public information, voters can review the City’s current utility rates, including water, wastewater, sanitation, stormwater, reclaimed water, and irrigation-only water services. The City also explains utility services generally on its Utility Services page.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Utility bills affect Live Here because they are part of the monthly cost of staying in a home. They affect Work Here because restaurants, shops, offices, nonprofits, and service businesses also pay these costs. They affect Play Here because parks, public spaces, restaurants, and entertainment districts all depend on functioning infrastructure. They affect Visit Here because a city that welcomes visitors must maintain reliable water, wastewater, stormwater, sanitation, and public services without placing unnecessary pressure on residents and local businesses.
Affordability is also affected by how the City spends money.
St. Petersburg has major needs: public safety, infrastructure, stormwater, housing, parks, transportation, city services, resilience, and neighborhood improvements. Those needs require serious budgeting.
Doug believes the City should fund core services, plan for the future, and invest in infrastructure. But he also believes taxpayers deserve careful review of spending, long-term obligations, and public return on investment.
A responsible city budget should answer basic questions:
Are we funding essential services first?
Are we maintaining what we already own?
Are we planning for long-term infrastructure costs?
Are we avoiding unnecessary future liabilities?
Are we measuring whether programs work?
Are we making decisions that protect residents and small businesses from avoidable cost increases?
Doug’s financial background gives him a practical lens on these questions. City Council decisions are not just political decisions. Many of them are financial decisions that affect households, businesses, workers, and future taxpayers.
The City’s Budget and Finance page is a useful starting point for residents who want to review budget hearings, public finance information, and City budget materials. The City’s Budget, Finance, and Taxation Committee page also explains that the committee addresses budgeting, auditing, financial reporting, taxation, procurement, insurance, utility-rate changes, management evaluations, and other matters related to City finances.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: The City budget affects all four parts of Doug’s framework. It affects Live Here through public safety, housing, utilities, stormwater, parks, and neighborhood services. It affects Work Here through permitting, infrastructure, business districts, procurement, and local economic conditions. It affects Play Here through parks, sidewalks, arts, events, recreation, and public spaces. It affects Visit Here through tourism infrastructure, downtown conditions, transportation, waterfront investments, and the public spaces visitors use.
Affordability and infrastructure are connected.
When growth happens faster than infrastructure, residents feel it through flooding, traffic, utility stress, parking problems, unsafe streets, and higher future costs. District 6 should not be asked to absorb growth without the infrastructure needed to support it.
Doug believes St. Petersburg should focus on infrastructure before irresponsible growth.
That means:
Address stormwater and drainage needs.
Improve sidewalks, lighting, streets, alleys, and safe crossings.
Plan for traffic and parking impacts before approving major projects.
Make sure utility capacity is part of development review.
Require major redevelopment to contribute fairly to infrastructure needs.
Prioritize maintenance and resilience in neighborhoods already feeling pressure.
Avoid pushing today’s costs onto tomorrow’s residents.
Growth is not automatically bad. In fact, growth is often very good. St. Petersburg should remain a city of opportunity, investment, creativity, and progress. But growth without planning, infrastructure, and accountability can make a city more expensive for everyone.
Residents can review the City’s Stormwater Master Plan, Stormwater service information, and flooding resources to better understand how stormwater, flooding, impervious surface, and long-term planning affect neighborhoods. Doug has also addressed related public-safety and quality-of-life issues in his Safe Alleys policy page.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Infrastructure affects every part of District 6. Residents cannot Live Here comfortably if neighborhoods flood, streets are unsafe, or utilities are strained. Businesses cannot Work Here successfully if construction, parking, roads, and public services do not function. People cannot Play Here safely without sidewalks, lighting, parks, waterfront access, and public spaces. Visitors cannot Visit Here without reliable transportation, parking, cleanliness, safety, and infrastructure that supports the experience.
Affordability is not only a residential issue. It is also a small-business issue.
Restaurants, local shops, service businesses, offices, contractors, artists, hospitality businesses, and neighborhood employers all face rising costs. Insurance, rents, labor costs, permitting delays, parking, utilities, construction disruption, and public-safety concerns can make it harder to operate.
When small businesses struggle, workers lose opportunities, neighborhoods lose character, and residents lose the local places that make St. Petersburg feel like St. Petersburg.
Doug believes City Hall should be easier to work with, not harder.
The City should look for practical ways to:
Reduce unnecessary permitting delays.
Communicate clearly with small businesses.
Coordinate construction and road projects to reduce disruption.
Improve downtown cleanliness, lighting, safety, and accessibility.
Support local businesses during major public projects.
Balance tourism, events, nightlife, and resident quality of life.
Make it easier for local businesses to participate in city opportunities.
Strengthen connections between small businesses, workforce development, local procurement, and entrepreneurship resources.
Voters and business owners can review public City resources through the City’s Business Assistance page, Small Business Assistance page, Building and Permitting page, and Economic Development page.
A city that wants people to work here must also care whether local employers can afford to stay here.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Small businesses are central to Work Here, but they also shape the rest of the District 6 experience. They help residents Live Here by providing services, jobs, and neighborhood character. They help people Play Here through restaurants, arts, events, entertainment, and public gathering places. They help people Visit Here by creating the local experience that makes St. Petersburg memorable.
District 6 is central to St. Petersburg’s future. Downtown, the waterfront, the EDGE District, the Innovation District, the Historic Gas Plant District, south St. Petersburg neighborhoods, arts corridors, and business districts all face major decisions.
Doug believes growth should be responsible, transparent, and accountable.
When public land, public money, public infrastructure, or public approvals are involved, the public should know what it is getting in return.
Doug’s approach is simple:
Public land should be treated as a public asset.
Public incentives should produce public benefits.
Development promises should be specific and enforceable.
Infrastructure impacts should be addressed up front.
Affordable and workforce housing commitments should be real.
Local workers and businesses should have meaningful opportunity.
Taxpayer risk should be clearly explained before decisions are made.
Final agreements should be understandable to the public before votes are taken.
Responsible growth should strengthen the community, not simply change the skyline.
As of July 2026, the City has selected the Pinellas County Housing Authority and The Burg Bid proposals for the Historic Gas Plant District and is moving toward negotiations and final agreements that would require City Council approval. The Historic Gas Plant District is one of the most important public land and redevelopment issues facing St. Petersburg.
As the City moves into negotiations on the selected Historic Gas Plant proposals, Doug believes City Council’s role is to make sure the final agreements are transparent, enforceable, financially responsible, and faithful to the community priorities of housing, jobs, economic opportunity, infrastructure, and honoring past promises.
Voters can review the City’s Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment page and the City’s July 2, 2026 update announcing the selection of the Pinellas County Housing Authority and The Burg Bid proposals.
Live. Work. Play. Visit. connection: Responsible growth must serve all four parts of District 6. It should help residents Live Here without being displaced, help workers and small businesses Work Here, create public spaces and cultural opportunities where people can Play Here, and support tourism and economic activity for those who Visit Here. Growth should strengthen the community, not simply increase the cost of remaining in it.
Doug’s District 6 Affordability Agenda is based on practical principles.
Housing matters, but so do taxes, utilities, insurance, transportation, parking, flooding, and daily expenses.
Applies to: Live Here, Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here.
Growth should not move faster than the roads, sidewalks, stormwater systems, utilities, parking, public safety, and city services needed to support it.
Applies to: Live Here, Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here.
Public spending, public land, public incentives, and long-term obligations should be reviewed carefully and explained clearly.
Applies to: Live Here, Work Here, and Visit Here.
St. Petersburg should be a city where people can live near opportunity, work with dignity, and remain part of the community.
Applies to: Live Here and Work Here.
Local businesses are part of the character and economy of District 6. City Hall should reduce unnecessary friction and support responsible local enterprise.
Applies to: Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here.
Large redevelopment decisions should include clear costs, clear benefits, enforceable commitments, and public reporting.
Applies to: Live Here, Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here.
District 6 includes many different neighborhoods, businesses, workers, residents, renters, homeowners, visitors, and community organizations. Good policy starts by listening to the people affected.
Applies to: Live Here, Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here.
Doug believes the campaign website should be a tool for voters, not just a campaign brochure. These public resources can help residents review the issues for themselves.
Doug Homeyer is running for St. Petersburg City Council District 6 because the district needs practical leadership that understands both community needs and financial realities.
Affordability cannot be solved with one slogan, one project, or one vote. It requires consistent, disciplined decisions that protect residents, support workers, strengthen small businesses, invest in infrastructure, and hold the City accountable for how public resources are used.
Doug will bring a practical, community-focused, financially responsible approach to City Council.
District 6 should be a place where people can Live Here, Work Here, Play Here, and Visit Here without losing what makes St. Petersburg home.
Read more about Doug’s approach to District 6: