ORLANDO, Fla. — Local governments are watching every dollar as they plan budgets for the next two years despite a great unknown: whether voters will approve a homestead exemption this November that would reduce property taxes.
Orange County commissioners put off a decision Tuesday on impact fees partly because they want to know what the financial landscape will look like after November.
Commissioner Nicole Wilson says if voters approve property tax cuts and dramatically reduce government revenue, the county will protect police and fire services, but parks and recreation, along with many other services, could see cuts.
“What gets cut and what are you willing to lose? And that’s the question we’re probably going to have to end up asking ourselves,” Wilson said.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says the county is making its 2026-27 budget, knowing it could lose $165 million in 2027-28 and another $250 million the following year if the higher homestead exemption passes.
“We can’t likely find those types of inefficiencies within the budget where it’s a zero-sum total. Know there’s likely going to be some reductions somewhere,” Demings said.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia was in St. Cloud on Wednesday talking about what he considers wasteful spending in local governments. Spectrum News asked him about Orange County’s decision to wait on impact fees.
“When they say they have to wait for Tallahassee to do something, it sort of confirms what I said in here is that they will not right-size themselves unless acted upon by an outside force,” Ingoglia said.
Cragin Mosteller, Deputy Executive Director of the Florida Association of Counties, is advising local governments to take action.
“We’re encouraging counties to go ahead and start looking at their 2027-2028 budgets, because this is going to have such a dramatic impact on their ability to provide services and everything is going to be different,” Mosteller said.
The Florida League of Cities says if the constitutional amendment passes, it would cut revenue for Florida cities and counties by $5 billion the first year and $8.8 billion the second year with no plan to replace those revenues.