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…
Category: Money
Issues related to city finances including taxes, spending, utility pricing, debt, and revenue.
UPDATE: Will The Commission Represent Your Interest? – Blue Bamboo Withdraws Sublease Request
NOTE: The Blue Bamboo has withdrawn its sublease request. The following is from an email from the Blue Bamboo President: “The Blue Bamboo Board of Directors has decided to take a pause on the agenda item at this time. Your presence at the City meeting is not required. We feel that the issues the sublease raises will be better addressed by requesting a City work session where the best use of the facility can be addressed.” The city commission is considering a sublease proposal related to the old library building on New England Ave this coming Wednesday. I sent the…
Constructive Alternatives for Spending and Revenue
The city commission will vote on the tentative property tax rate for 2026 on July 23, 2025. As noted earlier, two commission members have publicly indicated their support for an increase. Rather than increase the property tax rate, we should be focused on reducing general fund waste while moving CRA revenue into the general fund. We should be restructuring with an eye toward a property tax rate REDUCTION while securing a sustainable financial future. I sent the letter below to our city commission, seeking their interest in and support for meaningful general fund spending reductions and revenue re-allocation. Please contact…
Winter Park Spending vs. Inflation
Click here for the monthly US Consumer Price Index history. Winter Park’s fiscal year ends September 30. Here is the CPI and percent change for each fiscal year from 2019 to 2025 (assumed at 2.5% for 2025), and what spending would have been had it increased at the CPI. Year Ending 9/30 Actual CPIIndex Values Year to Year CPI Increase General FundSpending at CPI 2019 256.759 $57,722,493 2020 260.474 1.45% $58,557,669 2021 278.802 7.04% $62,678,023 2022 296.797 6.45% $66,723,514 2023 306.746 3.35% $68,960,168 2024 315.605 2.89% $70,951,777 2025 323.495 2.50% $72,725,572 The 2025 City of Winter Park Budget shows fiscal…
Response to Commissioner DeCiccio
Dear Commissioner DeCiccio, This responds to your recent email about playing fields. We all care about Winter Park parents and children, and about the quality of our playing fields. However, your email fails to address important questions. Before I get to questions about your vote to spend $2,800,000 outside the annual budget process and paid for using our emergency city reserve funds, I ask about your involvement in the rescission of the Orange Avenue Overlay last March. As part of your election campaign you postured as supporting the Orange Avenue Overlay. These changes to our Comprehensive Plan received final commission…
Appropriately Compassionate or a Knee-Jerk Reaction?
Fellow Winter Park Residents, Please share with friends and neighbors. Please send an email to mayorandcommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org expressing your thoughts on this issue. Tomorrow, with two days notice, our city commission and CRA board are each holding a “Special Meeting” where they will vote on commiting over $2,000,000 of our money for a local “response” to the COVID-19 pandemic. My letter to the commission on this subject is below. Please share your thoughts with them on this issue. To Winter Park Mayor and Commissioners: The notice for tomorrow’s scheduled “Special Meetings” (“is insufficient per statute” removed 04.08.2020 per the comment below)…
Let’s Cut-Thru the Nonsense
Something called “Winter Park Voice” has been sending emails around town under the pretense of providing useful information to the public. “Winter Park Voice” is controlled by a man named Tom Childers who spent his career in public relations (not journalism). Tom Childers accepts anonymous monetary contributions to “Winter Park Voice.” “Winter Park Voice” recently sent out two emails focused on the city’s consideration of a Resolution to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) supporting a particular configuration of a proposed extension of Lee Road that FDOT may or may not construct. The “information” included in these emails deserves closer…
Swap Realities: Risk, Return, and Judgment
November 18, 2011 I received the following message from Winter Park City Commissioner Steve Leary today and thought many citizens would welcome his detailed view of the facts and circumstances surrounding the city’s recent approval of a land swap of the State Office Building property at the corner of Morse and Denning (SOB) for the Progress Point property (PP) located on Orange Avenue. As with many city decisions, this one has its share of disagreements and controversy. While some seek to exploit controversy to engender resentment and foment discord, others are focused on serving our long term interests with respect…
Whose money is it?
February 2, 2011 On January 24th three of five Winter Park commission members voted down a proposed 50 year commercial lease on the five acre parcel of land owned by the city at the corner of Denning Avenue and Morse Boulevard. The short form of this long story is that two commissioners wanted you to steeply subsidize a 50 year lease of city owned land in order to “refurbish” a dilapidated building that utilizes 60 percent of the land’s capacity, to “retain” a long time employer who offered an unenforceable commitment to stay in Winter Park, and to “save” trees…
Cleaning up after the dog fee
October 18, 2010 Monday, October 11, 2010 our city commission approved fees to use Fleet Peeples Park with your dogs effective December 1, 2010. Commissioners Dillaha, Cooper, and McMacken voted for the fees. Commissioner Anderson and Mayor Bradley voted no. (I am not a dog owner.) Hundreds of Winter Park residents and non-residents take advantage of Fleet Peeples Park weekly to exercise dogs off leash and socialize with other dog owners. This has been going on for over ten years. Dog owners are a constituency whose needs should be addressed just as the city addresses needs of other constituencies ranging…