Winterparkperspective

Please review my letter to the city commission below along with the included links. Ending the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will put over $70,000,000 into our General Fund over the next ten years where it can be used to serve Winter Park residents, rather than be spent on projects that do nothing for Winter Park residents. Please click here to send an email to the city commission sharing your views on this subject. Mayor and Commissioners, Inertia is hard to stop but should never be a reason to spend taxpayers’ money. Please view the commission work session video of September…

I am voting for Chris Messina for Orange County Mayor on November 4th. GET TO KNOW CHRIS HERE. If you like what you see send Chris a donation and get a yard sign. Did you know you pay more property taxes to Orange County than you do to the City of Winter Park? Guess what? That money does almost nothing that represents your interests. We get the dog catcher and repair of county roads. Your kids might occasionally use an Orange County park. That’s about it. Winter Park property taxes do the heavy lifting of providing our public safety, parks,…

Mayor DeCiccio sent another email recently detailing commission approved revenue and spending changes planned for the 2026-2027 budget to be formally adopted on September 26th. The commission deserves credit for implementing a few spending reductions before the Amendment 3 vote, but misses the point. They are not addressing real strategic changes that will benefit the residents, regardless of the outcome on Amendment 3. A good example is their approval of new red light cameras expected to add $750,000 in new revenue (not a reduction in spending!). There were 25,000 red light camera violations in 2025, of which 70% were “right…

Mayor DeCiccio recently sent an email highlighting possible spending reductions should the state wide referendum intended to rein in property taxes pass in November. She notes a total of $9.5 million in possible annual reductions with $3.3 million of that coming from police and fire budgets. This is total baloney, as usual. Should Referendum #3 pass and the Winter Park millage rate remain constant, the expected reduction in property taxes is $3 million in the year ending September 2028, and $6 million the following year, increasing with inflation thereafter. These estimates exclude the likely increase in taxes resulting from valuation…

Let the commission know you want to see material spending reductions as they move to approve the final 2027 budget in September. Winter Park city management is proposing a 2026-2027 budget with a 5.4% increase in General Fund spending in a 3.5% inflation environment. Over the past 8 years General Fund spending has increased at an annualized rate of 7.1%, more than twice the 3.4% annualized increases in the Consumer Price Index. Our city is now spending over $16,600,000 in excess of inflation each year. The city commission is routinely spending every penny of increased revenues while decreasing our reserves…

See correction below. Hysteria from city commission members and staff over the state legislature’s efforts to rein in out of control property taxes has started. Here are some quotes: Mayor Sheila DeCiccio: “This will be devastating.” Commissioner Kris Cruzada: “We’re losing people. We’re losing quality of life. We’re losing services. You call down to City Hall, and you may not get a live person to deal with an issue.” Commissioner Warren Lindsey called the proposals “objectively one of the greatest threats, certainly since I’ve lived in Winter Park for 35 years.“ Director of Management and Budget Peter Moore: “This would…

Here is how “historic preservation” works… So, what truly establishes real historic significance in Winter Park? I see three measures: That’s it. All other cases require some authority to declare your property “historic” against your will. The only constructive policy providing historic preservation of true significance is one based on encouraging property owners to voluntarily apply to list their property on the Winter Park Registry of Historic Places. Let them seek and justify truly historic qualities and significance worthy of Winter Park, and let’s encourage them to do so without granting variances not available to all.

The State Legislature is considering various ways to reduce our property tax burden given the explosion in county and municipal spending and related property tax increases over the past several years, greatly impacting Florida’s affordability. Recent media about the possible impact on Winter Park has sensationalized possible cuts in public safety and road maintenance if the legislature moves ahead. Is Winter Park at Risk from Property Tax Reform? The answer is a clear “NO!” Winter Park has substantial assets and resources. We will benefit from state mandated reductions in property taxes while maintaining Winter Park’s high levels of service. Below…