ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County commissioners have decided not to move forward with a new sales tax to help fund infrastructure.
During a special meeting on Monday, commissioners were split on the decision but ultimately decided that now is not the time to take this sales tax to voters.
What You Need To Know
Orange County Commissioners decided not to move forward with an infrastructure sales tax on the November ballot
Affordability and the property tax reform on the same ballot were both issues for some commissioners
Now, leaders are going back to the drawing board to figure out what is next
Several county board of commission seats are up for election this year, so there will likely not be progress until the new board members get sworn in at the end of this year
It’s back to the drawing board to answer the question, how can Orange County create a stable funding source for infrastructure projects that taxpayers will be willing to support?
Orange County Commissioners discussed for hours, should they move forward?
“With that, you got a direction, just stop,” Mayor Jerry Demings said during the meeting on Monday.
Demings told county staff there is no need to crunch any more numbers; they can tackle this issue later.
“I thought it was worth exploring other taxing mechanisms under the law, so this one gives us the ability to do things that we don’t have dedicated funding for,” said District One Commissioner Nicole Wilson.
Wilson was leading this effort. She knows the transportation sales tax was pulled from the ballot in 2020 and then failed in 2022, so this time around, she wanted to incorporate other needs like water quality and green space. Now, it’s time to regroup again.
“The strategy has to be like, let’s find out from our residents what is important to them and let’s figure out how to get those things done,” Wilson said.
For those opposed, there were two major timing issues: people being in the middle of an affordability crisis and property tax cuts could be on the same ballot.
“Can you imagine voting for yes, reduce my taxes but yes by the way give me an extra penny, just common sense wise, doesn’t make sense,” said District 3 Commissioner Mayra Uribe.
But if there is statewide property tax reform and that revenue goes away or gets cut back, now is the time to establish more stable funding for the county.
“That public health and safety piece, is the most critical and would garner probably the most priority so then, what are we going to give up? Parks, libraries, what are you willing to give up, your sidewalk?” Wilson said.
Voters won’t see the question on the ballot this year, but that does not mean the conversations stop with county leaders and residents.
“Let’s keep it going, let’s not lose this momentum because we are going to need it, and we need to face this head on if we want to be able to move around this town we live in,” Uribe said.
Citizens could see some other sales tax proposal on the table for 2028. There’s a presidential election that year, and history shows that more people hit the polls during those elections.
Another factor that has made this process complicated is that several commissioners are running for other elected positions and there will be two new seats on the commission.
Once the new board is in place by the end of this year, they need to get to work right away to figure out how to get something to pass in 2028.