Orlando leaders OK $1.2B budget
Most of $17M boost going to police, fire departments’ costs
Orlando’s budget for the coming year got a $17 million boost from rising property values, but nearly all of the money is slated to cover the city’s rising costs for police and fire services.
The City Council on Wednesday gave initial approval to a proposed $1.2 billion budget for the 2018 fiscal year. About 56.6 percent of the $446 million general fund would be consumed by the city’s police and fire departments, up from 50.6 percent in 2007. The tax rate and budget still face a final public hearing and vote Sept. 25.
“We continue to invest in public safety,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said after the budget hearing, which lasted less than a half-hour without any debate among the council. “It just shows that our priority is public safety.’’
Police and fire expenses consumed nearly $15.7 million of the city’s influx of new property tax, the result of a more than $3 billion growth of taxable values. At 12.5 percent, that’s the largest increase in Central Florida.
Orlando commissioners also voted Wednesday to keep property tax rates steady at $6.65 per $1,000 of taxable value. Most governments in the region are also expected to maintain their current rates.
Even so, the rising values mean homeowners will face pricier tax bills. City leaders said the extra tax money is needed to hire new police and firefighters, shore up pensions and replace aging vehicles and equipment.
The biggest chunk of new money earmarked for public safety, about $6.2 million, will boost the police and fire pension funds because of a state law that required cities to update their calculations for determining life expectancy, a city spokeswoman said.
The city also wants to hire 15 police officers, 12 firefighters and buy a new tower truck to serve the fast-growing Lake Nona region in southeast Orlando, a priority Dyer highlighted in his annual “state of the city” speech this year.
On Wednesday, he noted the district that includes the Lake Nona area is the one that saw