{"id":339492,"date":"2026-07-14T11:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T11:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339492\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T11:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T11:45:12","slug":"orlando-prepares-for-world-with-less-property-tax-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/339492\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando prepares for world with less property tax revenue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Orlando officials are making plans for the possible removal of part of its property tax revenue.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Orlando officials discussed their options should voters pass an expansion of the homestead tax exemption. Doing so would remove a large portion of Orlando\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf substantial reductions in local revenues are enacted, cities like Orlando will be forced to make serious decisions,\u201d said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. \u201cCurrent (and) future city leaders will have fewer resources available to maintain existing service levels. Projects to improve our neighborhoods may be delayed or may be eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In November, voters will decide whether or not to expand the homestead exemption for homeowners from $50,000 to $150,000 by 2027, and $250,000 by 2028.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/eog\/news\/press\/2026\/governor-ron-desantis-announces-special-session-property-tax-relief-unveils-save\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">In May, <\/a>Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special session to be held in June, asking legislators to consider a constitutional amendment aimed at delivering broad property tax relief for Florida homeowners.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"District 5 Commissioner Shan Rose, during a workshop on Monday, July 13, regarding the proposed constitutional Amendment 3, which would reform the property tax Exemption. She says that some residents may not understand how important their tax dollars are to the city\u2019s services. \u201c I think we really got to start showing where our, where the taxpayers' dollars are going, so they really understand the impact, the negative impact that this could have.&quot; Florida residents will vote on the proposal in the November election.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"512\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784029511_618_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>screenshot<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p> City of Orlando<\/p>\n<p> District 5 Commissioner Shan Rose, during a workshop on Monday, said some residents may not understand how important their tax dollars are to the city\u2019s services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProperty tax revenue collected by local governments has nearly doubled in the past seven years and is expected to reach an astounding $83 billion by 2032,\u201d DeSantis said in a press release. \u201cFlorida homeowners need relief. Now is the time to stand up for taxpayers, enact a historic reform, and save the home of every Floridian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In June, legislators passed the constitutional amendment for voters to decide on in November.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOwning your own home has been the American dream since our nation was founded 250 years ago. What better way to celebrate America\u2019s 250th anniversary than a massive property tax cut through a $250,000 homestead exemption for Floridians,\u201d said Senate President Ben Albritton (R-Wauchula).<\/p>\n<p>The proposal, known as Amendment 3, needs a supermajority, or 60% of the vote, to pass.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"The city predicts a loss of $75-$85 million dollars by 2029 if the exemption goes into effect.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"477\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784029512_560_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>screenshot<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p>City of Orlando <\/p>\n<p> The city predicts a loss of $75-$85 million dollars by 2029 if the exemption goes into effect.<\/p>\n<p>If it were to, Orlando is predicting a big hit on its services such as police and fire departments, parks and recreation, transportation, public housing, and amenities, Dyer said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a prediction, not a wild alarmism. It is simply the reality of municipal finance, no different than your household budget,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The city could lose an estimated $30-35 million in the first year of the tax reform, according to Orlando Chief Financial Officer Jose Fernandez. That number could jump to a loss of $45-$50 million the next year, for a total of $75-$85 million over two years.<\/p>\n<p>The council discussed options to help fill in the gaps, such as a hiring freeze.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur personnel costs are one of the highest costs that we have as a city, and the issue with personnel costs is once you bring somebody on board, it&#8217;s a recurring cost, and that cost goes up,\u201d Fernandez said.<\/p>\n<p>The only hires that were proposed for next year\u2019s budget are nine new Orlando police officers and 37 new hires for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orlando.gov\/Public-Safety\/OFD\/Fire-Stations\/Fire-Station-18\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Orlando Fire Department\u2019s<\/a> new fire station in the Lake Nona area.<\/p>\n<p>A second strategy would be to create a property tax reform stabilization fund, using year-end budget surpluses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fund will be used to help fill the funding gap caused by the implementation of property tax reform,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>District 5 Commissioner Shan Rose proposed an education campaign designed to inform voters on how much their taxes support city services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think collectively that needs to be what we really do. Every department needs to do it, from business development to public works to OPD to the fire department, start really saying, \u2018These are your dollars at work,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The city will take public comment on Sept. 14 during a City Council meeting ahead of implementing the budget in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando officials are making plans for the possible removal of part of its property tax revenue. On Monday,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-339492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}