Governor DeSantis and Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia held a press conference October 1st on the subject of county and city government waste. The video is linked below and worth watching.
Local governments have exploited tax increases resulting from fast rising assessed values, creating unnecessary overhead while spending arbitrarily on projects that do not serve the general welfare. Winter Park is the poster child for this problem.
I have documented Winter Park spending abuses in great detail. Ask the commission to justify their actions: mayorandcommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org.
If you are fed up with the blowout spending by this commission please run for city commission in the March 2026 election on a platform of fiscal responsibility, serving the general welfare of all Winter Park residents. Qualifying is straight forward. See: https://cityofwinterpark.org/government/election-info/#tab-qualifying-info.
Watch the DeSantis press conference:
There is one declared candidate: Elizabeth Ingram. Have you reached out to her to see where she stands on the spending in Winter Park? The supporter list she shared in her launch email looks like it comes from the same group responsible for the spending issues you highlight in your emails.
Related question, what would happen to Winter Park if property taxes were no longer collected?
I will follow-up with the candidates as the races take shape. However, based on past history, none will take any specific policy positions.
Property taxes comprise $39 million or 43% of $89 million in total Winter Park General Fund revenue budgeted for 2026. The state level initiatives to control property tax growth as just taking form. They range from decreasing the Save Our Homes max annual assessed value increase from 3% to 1.5%, to increasing the homestead exemption, to more aggressive methods of replacing property tax revenue with higher sales taxes and fees. Keep in mind that the real solution is electing fiscally responsible Winter Park politicians instead of spend thrifts.