St. Petersburg is known for its murals, music, theater, symphonies, dance, and world-class museums like the Dalí and the MFA, alongside dozens of unique forms of artistic expression. The arts, in the fullest sense of the word, are the vitality and soul of a community. Yet, Florida’s Amendment 3 on the November ballot threatens to undermine and erode the very foundation of that culture.
Presented as a way to lower homeowners’ taxes by raising non-school homestead exemptions up to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 by 2028, the measure carries a hidden cost. According to projections from the City of St. Petersburg, it would trigger massive drops in local property tax collections: an estimated loss of $33 million in FY 2028, leaping to $54 million by FY 2029.
Under the city’s current fiscal rules, incoming property tax revenues automatically prioritize public safety first, with any excess routing next to Fire Rescue. Because public safety budgets absorb the remaining funds, non-mandated “discretionary” categories bear the brunt of any deficit.

That fiscal reality matters urgently in St. Pete today. Last year, the state vetoed roughly $32 million in arts grants. Now Amendment 3 looms. It takes tens of millions out of the General Fund, forcing cultural funding to compete directly with public safety for what remains. Most local artists rent and live on modest incomes, meaning they will see little to no relief from property tax exemptions. So how do we support the writers, artists, and creative community here?

People come to St. Pete for the arts. Yet last year at the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, the director came to the microphone to tell the audience that all funding for the festival had been cut. How can you run a festival or arts program of this quality with no money?
I have been an artist, writer, performer, and theater maker all my adult life. I moved to St. Petersburg because there was robust support for the arts, but that support has largely disappeared. Would I expect to see my nurse practitioner, lawyer, bookkeeper, or grocer for free? So why do we expect artists and creatives to work for free? When you hear a musician perform for an hour, you are seeing only the final moment. Long before the show, we have spent countless hours rehearsing, practicing, and preparing for that stage.
The arts are not an expense. They are an investment. RAND’s Study Gifts of the Muse found that sustained engagement with the arts builds empathy and strengthens social bonds—the invisible infrastructure of any healthy community. And the returns are not only civic. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that arts and cultural production accounted for 4.2 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2023, some $1.17 trillion, growing more than twice as fast as the economy as a whole. Every theater, festival, and gallery employs people, fills restaurants and hotels, and draws visitors who would not otherwise come. To fund the arts is to invest in both the heart of our community and its livelihood.

Twenty-five years ago, Central Avenue was deserted and unsafe after dark. Today it is alive with music and galleries. Why kill the golden goose?

Five Practical Steps
1. Oppose Amendment 3 on the ballot this November.
2. Create a St. Pete Arts Fund. Guarantee 1% of the city budget for the arts—roughly $10 million a year. The city’s current Percent for Art program covers only public art on new construction. This fund would support artists across every discipline.
3. An artist income pilot. New York’s Creatives Rebuild program paid 2,400 artists $1,000 a month. St. Pete could begin with fifty.
4. Pass-through standards. City arts contracts should require that a set share of funds reach working artists, backed by annual public reporting.
5. Direct commissioning. The city should pay artists directly for murals, performances, festivals, and residencies.
6. Protected creative space. Support shared studios and artist-run co-ops so artists can afford to stay.

These models already work in other cities. What they require is will, and a shared voice from the arts community before budgets are decided.
We can turn this around. St. Petersburg already views itself as the City of the Arts. Let us make that our motto in reality, and provide the funds to realize it: St. Pete, Our City of the Arts. Oppose Amendment 3 and let us continue to fully fund the arts in our community.


Namaya is a poet, performer, artist, and playwright who lives in St. Petersburg and Girona, Catalonia