Fellow Winter Park Residents,
Please share with friends and neighbors.
Squirming over the property tax referendum has started. Numerous local officials, editorials, and bloggers are crying over the strong likelihood that passage of the property tax referendum will require elected officials to explain and be held accountable for their spending. Oh no! Not accountability! 😁
Dramatic increases in assessed values over the past 10 years have resulted in Winter Park commission members finding ways to spend every penny of related property tax increases. This is also true of Orange County commission members.
Did Winter Park really need Seven Oaks Park (over $5 million), to purchase properties at Denning and Fairbanks (over $5 million), to extend and expand the CRA ($5 million a year in lost general fund revenue), statues in MKL park ($1 million), "historic" entrance arches on Park Ave ($500,000), numerous increases in general fund headcount that serve no one, and many other spending boondoggles and lost opportunities?
The referendum calls for an increase of $100,000 in the valuation exemption for homestead property (up from the current $50,000) and a reduction in the maximum annual valuation increase for non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, both effective for the 2027-2028 budget year. The homestead exemption would then increase to $250,000 in 2029, adjusted for CPI in later years.
There are very few, if any, homestead properties in Winter Park valued at less than $250,000. If the referendum passes (and the tax rate is not increased), nearly every homestead property owner would see their property taxes decline by $853 in 2028 and $1,705 in 2029 (City of Winter Park and Orange County taxes combined). Further, reducing the maximum valuation increase for non-homestead properties will help both owners and renters.
Approval of the referendum will have a very positive impact, assuring our commission members only increase property tax rates for things voters truly want, otherwise they will be replaced. This is the way government is supposed to work.
Please ask each commission member to detail the spending they would cut if the referendum is approved, and then detail the millage rate increase they would support, if any, to recover specific priorities each believe we can’t live without. Don't accept whining! Tell them to put it in writing. Let’s deal with what truly matters.
Referendum legislation details:
