The Tampa City Council has voted down a new fee to pay for a large drainage project.

By a vote of 4-3, the council decided not to implement the new stormwater improvement fee that would have helped the city pay for bigger culverts, drains and outflows.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn supported the project following heavy rains in August that left several Tampa neighborhoods flooded.

The fee would have raised an estimated $251 million but some council members were skeptical the project could actually fix the drainage problems.

"The presentation that was made does not fix this problem because they can't fix this problem. The only way you can fix this problem is by lowering the bay and I can't do that," said Charlie Miranda.

Other council members said the fee could be hard for people on fixed incomes to pay.

Mayor Buckhorn issued a statement expressing disappointment in the council's decision.

"Every citizen whose houses were flooded, whose cars were flooded and whose streets were flooded should be disappointed by the city council vote. Rather than fund a realistic and affordable plan to fix a decades-old problem, a majority of them chose to do nothing and hope it magically goes away," he said.

Residents who live on 45th Street which flooded in August said they're worried about what will happen if their drainage issues aren't fixed.

"I think it's wrong for them to not do it and then later it's going to cause more problems," said Shaquan Douglas.

Buckhorn said the city will still try to work on the drainage problems but he said it won't be able to do as much without this additional money.