Orlando officials OK growing budget

City officials unanimously signed off on Orlando’s $1.4 billion budget Wednesday, which Mayor Buddy Dyer said prioritizes new investment in racial equity initiatives, as well as a police department with a greater focus on community policing.

However, that the budget will bring a bump in dollars for the Orlando Police Department drew the ire of some activists who were involved in marches against systemic racism and police brutality this summer, when many rallied around demands to “defund” local law enforcement agencies in favor of expanded social services.

Overall, the city budget grew

nearly 6% from last year and was mostly spared from effects of COVID-19, which caused the state’s sales tax collections to plummet and the county’s Tourist Development Tax to evaporate.

City government is mostly funded by property taxes, with prices set at the beginning of each year. Property values were up about 10% this year, with a third of that growth coming from new construction, Chief Financial Officer Chris McCullion said.

But budget hits are possible in future years, if commercial or residential real estate markets tumble.

“We don’t think we’re even going to be affected next year, necessarily,” Dyer said.

“I look out at the buildings outside of my office and I don’t know if they’re 20% occupied right now. … Whether we’re going to maintain property values, especially in the downtown area, is a concern over the next couple of years.”

The City Council will take its second and final vote on adopting the budget Sept. 21.

Dyer touted a series of initiatives as evidence the city is taking action in response to the protest movement that emerged after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Those include about a 16% increase in its Families, Parks and Recreation Department budget to expand youth programs, including a $2 million expansion of the Parramore Kidz Zone into three more neighborhoods and a $1 million expansion of the My Brother’s Keeper mentorship program into four more neighborhoods.

“I would say that we’ve listened, and we’ve responded and I think we’ve responded appropriately,” Dyer said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The Mayor also said the city is creating an equity official in its executive offices to address racial equity across city business, a position he said could operate similar to the director of sustainability and resiliency, which advises city departments on environmental policies.

“Actually dedicating somebody that lives and breathes that aspect of city government is important,” he said of the new position.

Dyer also said the city would spend on a pilot test that will send mental health professionals to certain police calls, hiring three new investigators to speed the review of incidents in which police officers use force and adding 10 new community-oriented policing officers through federal grant money.

But Aston Mack, who was among protesters this summer, chastised the City Council for increasing OPD’s budget, which is about 2% higher than last year and accounts for 31.8% of the city’s general fund. Had the city kept police spending at the same levels they were a decade ago, he said it would’ve created more money for affordable housing, an area in which Orlando is among the nation’s worst in terms of availability.

“Stop increasing the budget. More cops is not the solution,” he said in the virtual hearing. “I find this whole thing to be a slap in the face.”

Lawanna Gelzer, a Parramore activist who has called for a health disparity study in the neighborhood, also questioned increasing the department’s budget.

“Why are we giving more money for training? We don’t need to give them any more money,” she said.

Their comments drew defenses of OPD from Commissioner Tony Ortiz, a retired officer, who noted expensive equipment needed for first responders, and Commissioner Jim Gray, who represents southeast Orlando and Lake Nona.

Gray said he wanted more patrol officers in his fast-growing district to combat speeding and reckless driving, which are among the top complaints received by his office.