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>> Okay, let's try it again. Welcome to the 2026 Orlando City Council budget workshop today as we begin our annual budget process, which is one of our most important responsibilities as a city government. Our budget is more than just a financial document. It's a statement
of our values. It reflects the services we provide, the investments that we make, and the commitments we honor on behalf of the people who call Orlando home. Every dollar we allocate represents a choice about the kind of city we want to be, the quality of life
residents want, and the future that we want to build together. Over the past year, our city has continued to grow and prosper. We have welcomed new residents and businesses, expanded economic opportunities, invested in public safety, improved infrastructure, and
we've strengthened the amenities that make our city one of the most dynamic and desirable places in America to live, work, and play. These accomplishments are the result of thoughtful planning, responsible financial stewardship, and a shared commitment to serving our
residents. But as we begin this process, it is important that we speak honestly about the challenges that may lie ahead. For decades, Florida cities have operated under a partnership with the state that recognize the importance of
ro the local governments play in the daily lives of residents. Cities are where people experience government most directly. We maintain roads and sidewalks. We provide police and fire protection. We operate parks and ball fields. community centers and afterchool
programs. We invest in housing, homeless initiatives, transportation, business development, and quality of life improvements that make our community stronger. Today, however, that partnership faces growing uncertainty. In Tallahassee, there's an increasing
action to drastically change Florida's property tax system with an amendment on the November ballot. This change would dramatically reduce local government's most important important and most reliable general revenue source without providing a sustainable replacement. It
will have a real consequence for cities and residents that we serve. Property taxes are not an abstract funding source. They pay for police officers who respond to the residents who call 911. They support firefighters and paramedics who arrive during emergencies. They
maintain our parks, keep our neighborhoods clean, repair our infrastructure, and f fund many of the services that residents rely on every single day. If substantial reductions in local revenues are enacted, cities like Orlando will be forced to make some
difficult decisions. Current future city lit leaders will have fewer resources available to maintain existing service levels. Projects that improve our neighborhoods may be delayed or eliminated. Investments in parks, transportation, housing, public
amenities could be reduced. Programs that residents value may be scaled back. And that is not a prediction, not a wild alarmism. It is simply the reality of municipal finance, no different than your household budget. Every dollar removed from local government revenue is
a dollar that can no longer be invested in local priorities unless an alternative funding source is identified. There's no way around this basic fact. As mayor, I strongly believe in government efficiency and fiscal responsibility. Orlando has demonstrated
both. Year after year, we have maintained strong reserves, earned high bond ratings, and manage tax dollars carefully, and we will continue to look for efficiencies and opportunities to do more with less. But efficiency alone cannot offset major structural
reductions in local revenue. As we move through this budget process, we must prepare not only for the year ahead, but for the possibility of significant changes in the years to come. That means making prudenti decisions today and protecting our financial security. Over
the next few months, we must help all of our residents learn more about our budget and understand what is at stake. Our communications team is starting to plan educational opportunities for our community because everyone must recognize that decisions being made by the voters in Orlando and around the
state will shape our operations as local governments for years to come. With that in mind, I would like to call on our CFO, Jose Fernandez, to start our pres budget presentation. Jose Got to figure out um
>> Oh, it's up. Okay. Good morning. Thank you, mayor. Um good morning, mayor. Good morning, commissioners. I hope you guys had a great weekend. Thank you very much for the opportunity to present the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. Jason will be sharing the proposed budget with you in a few moments.
However, before Jason presents the budget, I want to take a few minutes um to provide a brief and quick update on property tax reform. Um what I hope to do is I want to discuss what the legislation does. Um I want to discuss
the financial impact to the city, what the Okay, sorry about that. Um, I'm what I'm going to discuss is what the legislation does, what the financial impact is to the city, what the financial impact means, examples of what
could be impacted if we if property tax reform gets approved by the voters, and then what we can do now to start preparing for it, and then what we can do moving forward. So, um, last month when Kyle did his legislative update, he provided, um,
some information on property tax reform. >> Sure. Sorry. Um, well, last last month um, when Kyle did his presentation on proper on um, legislative legislative update, he provided information on property tax reform. So, I just want to take a quick
moment and run through these quickly. Um, if approved by the by the tax by the voters, um, what'll happen is in 20 fiscal year 2028, the exemption will go from $50,000 to $150,000. In fiscal year 29, the exemption will go up to
$250,000. Um, I'll skip the third one for right now. Um, um, it also reduces the the non-homestead property assessment increase from 10 to 5% per year. And then it'll adjust the homestead exemption for inflation effective 20
fiscal year 2029. Um, and then for non-permanent Florida residents who are not residents as of 1231 2026, they'll have to wait five years to be able to get the full $250,000 for the first five years. They they'll only receive $50,000
and then it requires 60% approval by the voters. Um, I wanted to highlight um the one that the the one that's bolded. um that's the one that gives us um heartburn or gives us concern because of how vague it is and and the uncertainty with it. We know what's going to happen
in 28. We know what's going to happen in 29. We don't know what's going to happen after that. Um we don't know if if that's going to be done over 1, two, three, or four or five years. So that's one thing that if it does get voted, you know, and approved by the by the by the voters, we do want to keep an eye on
that to make to figure out what the phase in period is or the phase out period depending on how you look at it to make sure that you know the the longer period we have to implement it obviously the more opportunity we have to respond and you know respond to it
better. The shorter window that we have then the more impact it's going to have to us and the more difficult it would be for us to respond. Uh this is a a graph that shows um the city's composition or makeup of homesteaded properties versus
non-homesteaded properties. And as you can see about 19% of our property tax revenue comes from homesteaded properties and approximately 81% um comes from nonhomesteaded properties. Now, you know, it seems like a small
number, but 20% of 760 million, I mean $360 million is a substantial amount of money. So, and then this is just a comparison of u of that of that same break breakdown or composition of of homesteaded properties
versus nonhomesteaded properties. And as you can see, you know, Orlando fares very well. you know, I mean, we're we're at the bottom, you know, compared to some of the other cities who are in the 40s and the 30s. So, um, all all things being constant, you know, you you want
you want that portion of your property tax revenue related to homesteaded properties to be as small as possible. Um so um how does the city property tax how would the city's property tax revenue be impacted? Um based on the estimates that
we have in fiscal year 2728 we expect it to impact us by about $30 to $35 million of revenue loss. So for that first year um we would see a drop in revenue related to property tax of about 30 and 35 million. In fiscal year
2029 when when the exemption goes up to 250 in that particular year we expect cumulative which means you know you the same 30 to $35 million that we lost in 28 will carry over in 29 because we don't we we don't have anything to make that up. And then the additional that
gets us to the 250 $250,000 exemption takes us to a loss of about 40 to $45 million over the two-year period. It's between 75 and $85 million. Um so how how are we preparing to start you know hopefully you know if we have
to address this how do we start doing it? Well, one of the things that we've done is we've been very very very um restrictive with adding new positions to the budget. You know, our personal cost, you know, are one of the highest um costs that we that we that the city has
as a city. And the issue with personnel costs is once you bring somebody on board, you know, it's a recurring cost, you know, I mean, a cost that goes up. So we made we we we worked with the departments to make sure that this year the only staffing that we added was for
public safety. Historically we have been you know we've been adding more officers to address growth in the southeast. Um but the proposed budget only is adding nine for OPD. This represents significantly less than requested by the police department. of the nine officers and I don't I don't
want to go into great detail because Jason will but um of the nine officers um there's five police officers, two lieutenants and one sergeant and one communications division trainer. The sworn staff are to support growth and the communications division trainers to support the division with recruiting and
retraining division. Um, if you take out um the 36 the 36 for the for for OFD are for a new fire station and one is for EMS transport manager to help build the the the civilian paramedic program to
make sure it's successful and we can train people and manage people and have that program be very successful. If you exclude the additions of the of the of the position for police and fire, there was actually a decrease overall in general fund position. So the only reason we're showing a growth is because
the additions that we have to police and fire. Um so to help us manage growth, we track and compare budgeted positions to population growth. More specifically, we track general fund positions per thousand residents. As you can see from this chart, for all general fund
positions, while we may have fluctuated slightly, we have hovered on an average of around 8.2 2 to 8.3 um employees per thousand residents. It peaks in FY2025 and starts to flow back down to the normal average. When you
start with f with FY2027, which includes the proposed positions for fire and police, and consider not adding any new positions in future years, the ratio starts to quickly decrease. Not adding new positions to accommodate growth will probably result in service impacts. You
know, so examples could be police response time. It could be operating hours at at a park facilities. You know, if you just take a step back and look at the services we provide as a city, you know, and the magnitude of that, you know, when that ratio starts declining,
that means services will be impacted. Um, this chart, this chart looks at all general fund positions and includes all departments. Um, so the service, the decreases will have an impact on services across the city. And what isn't captured by the chart, but it's worth
noting is that um one of the initiatives or one of the recommendations that we're going to make is that we have a hiring freeze. So um this is based on budgeted positions, which means it assumes that positions will get filled. So if you factor in the fact that we're not going
to add positions and we're not going to fill positions, then that this would really, you know, taper down even quicker. Um, so what does this mean to the city? Um, what could be impacted? And this is a non-exhaustive list and it's just
example of potential areas of service. Um, and I I purposely presented them alphabetically. So, you know, if you there's a project there that's that's near and dear to your heart. You know, it's not something that we're considering impacting. It's just a list of projects. So you could see, you know, the how how vast and how broad, you
know, and how it touches everything in the city. Here is just the the same thing. Um, you know, um the different things and as you can see, you know, they're they they they're from not funding, you know, capital requests to payment
rehabilitation to um recreation center, you know, pool maintenance. It's just a variety of services that either the city provides, the city purchases, or in some cases um they're they're funding that the city provides to organizations that that
provide services to residents and businesses of Orlando. So, how is the city preparing? Um on an annual basis as part of our budget process, we evaluate the surplus from the general fund and make recommendations as to where to allocate
surplus at the year at year end to assist in offsetting the impact of property tax reform if there is any surplus at the end of fiscal year 2025. We're recommending that we establish and fund a property tax reform stabilization fund. The fund will be used to help fill
the funding gap caused by the implementation of property tax reform. Um when the mayor earlier said, you know, that whatever we got, we have to make decisions now that affect us in the future. Um doing something like this aligns with that. You know, where we're setting aside, you know, we're
prioritizing impacts of property tax reform by establishing the fund and then having a forward-looking perspective. Another another decision that we can make today that will impact years is implementing a hiring freeze initiative during the
current fiscal year. This initi this initiative will require all vacancies to be evaluated determine whether the position should be filled. It should be implemented immediately after the process is discussed between you know it'll be a collab collaborative effort between the CEO's office, the mayor's
office, human resource department. Um just the initiative will not apply to enterprise funds. Um and it would not apply to any fund you know that funds itself for example the building department. So it'll be just general fund general fund departments. The
hiring fees will assist in partially offsetting the impacts of property tax reform uh to maximize the benefits of our hiring fees. It is something that you should we should implement this fiscal year. And while it's still a year away as we look towards the end, you know, of FY
2027, keeping in mind, you know, um what we established or we what we we're recommending that we establish in in fiscal year 26, which is the stabilization fund. Keep in mind, you know, at the end of fiscal year 2027, do the same exercise all over again.
Evaluate what surpluses we have and how much of that we can commit to that stabilization fund. So when 20 when fiscal year 28 or 29 comes around, you know, we've got some money set aside specifically just to address this. And this this this is outside of the
reserves. This is something, you know, in addition to the reserves. I mean, and the reserves, um, while they're there for a rainy day, you know, ideally, we want to keep them there. Um, we just went through a refunding of of of a bond of two bond issues. And one of the one
of the the positives that came out from that was the fact that we've been able to, you know, to to to have a st a a stable, constant growing, very dynamic reserve that grows with with the budget. And that was one of the positive reasons that we got the ratings that we got. So
we want to keep the reserves for that purpose and also for a rainy day and not use them to address property tax reform. Um and then individually and collectively these measures initiatives will help offset the impact. However, in
spite of them services will be impacted. Um so next steps um if the voters approve the referendum um we will need to monitor the process established by the state legislature to implement the
amendment. As I said earlier um having a longer window a longer period of time to be able to implement those changes helps rather than you know crunching it you know in three years. Um, so we we'll have to take a close look at that to make sure that we're aware of what's
going on. Uh, continue with the hiring freeze, continue to monitor, track, and forecast all the general funds revenues. Uh, continue to work closely with department directors and fiscal managers to identify savings and ensure operating results are within budget and um provide
updates if significant. You know, otherwise come back to city council in April or May time frame to provide an update. And um I don't know that that's it. If there's any questions. >> Thank you, Jose. Questions? Commissioner Chapman
on slides six and seven uh where you talk a lot about fire department and the police department. You show the general fund positions going down. I think it would be important to show this is in preparation for that, right? That that graph.
>> Yeah. Yeah. That that graph is based. >> I think we should show what it would be without it. >> Okay. >> Right. Um >> so instead of saying we're going to hire 37, what would we have hired? >> Okay. >> Um I think that's important. Um
the the uh the alphabetical list, I didn't see public safety on there. Is that because it wouldn't be impacted or because we would prioritize it? When when will we start to see a prioritized list of like these are the most likely things to get? If you take a look at the
list for for the most part, we purposefully didn't put departments in there. I think the only thing that that's related to a department is um recreation and pool operations. Other than that, we purposely didn't put any impacts to any department there. Um
other than showing it in the graph that because we're [clears throat] we're if we go through the hiring freeze and we don't add people, you know, by by by virtue of that, services are going to go down. >> Okay. Well, clearly public safety is obviously our biggest budget item and
probably one of the items that people are most concerned about, one of the most basic functions. So, I think we should highlight the impact. Um, what about projects that are in the future that we've allocated
money for? When do we start to think about are do we press the gas on those projects? Do we pump the brakes on those projects? Um, >> well, >> I could give you an example, but >> well, that's one of the things that we would monitor collectively with the
other things that I said as far as monitoring revenues, moni, you know, monitoring the economy, monitoring those things to determine whether or not we need to pivot and go in another direction because, you know, even if we did that project, you know, are we going
to have funding to, you know, to staff it and operate it? So those are the things that once once we we know if if if it gets approved by the voters then once we know what the timeline is for implementation and then we we we factor in everything else that I mentioned
that's when we start looking at those things to make those decisions. >> All right. I think the more specivity we can put to it, people can say, "Wow, you know, I might have to cut the College Park pool back to three days a week, you know, something or we can't do the
renovation or or the expansion or we're not going to, you know, some very specific things for voters to be able to to see. Um, and then was there something in the in the bill, mayor, about having to go back to the legislature essentially to ask about how we can
operate as a city? >> [laughter] >> there. What the proposal was, at least when Dantis was talking about it, was they were going to do some grant funding and the cities would have to come and beg >> Yeah. >> the legislature for whatever grant funding, but that actually doesn't
appear in the um on the constitutional amendment. That kind of went away. So that right now, if you eliminate the property tax, there is no replacement source. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Commissioner Rose. Do we have so the
last two years we've done a lot of annexation of property. Do we have any fiscal future um revenue dollars of what we would anticipate? So we talk about hiring freeze but there can't be a hiring freeze if we're annexing. And so
do we have preliminary numbers on what all of the massive annexations that we've done what those revenues. So, for example, I was just over there the other day. Rose Arts District will be the that community will be built and there's potential for revenue. So, are we
calculating the future for developments that we approve that are already on the way to be able to budget? Because I know like Commissioner Chapen, you brought up a good question, but if we're anticipating revenue from new structures being built, are we kind of forecasting, are we working with um tax collector,
property appraiser to kind of forecast what that would look like based on where those houses are priced and how we're developing in those communities? >> And we we have historically done done those things, you know, at a high level. You know, the the only thing is with annexations or or or those kinds of
things that you're mentioning is property tax reform sort of like eliminates a lot of those revenue streams that you're hoping to get because, you know, single family homes, you know, that are homesteaded, you know, once you get to that 150 or 250,
it eats into a big chunk of the assessed value of those homes. So, yes, it's something that we've done. is something that that we we we can definitely do and we will continue to do. But we need to factor in that it's not like it was before where when a when a home when a home is where 500 homes are built, you
know, and they're sold um they get their exemption, there's still a component associated with revenue that you get the majority of the revenue from that home. But once the exemption keeps growing and growing and growing, it sort of like eats into your into that base where the revenue that you were expecting to get,
it's a lot less now. Okay. So, I know that communications is working on communicating to the community. I think it's important, you know, Commissioner Chapen, I think it's important that we talk about those things through our in our communities. For example, as we start building out
Sunbridge, there's going to be a park, there's going to be a recreation center, right? And if we're looking at potentially um doing a hiring freeze, how will that impact the communities that exist? So, I'm going say this and and I can say it publicly. minority communities always struggle the most when period right because there there
aren't necessarily larger tax base in certain communities um high poverty um low income right so the communities struggle as is to be able to maintain you can go to some communities and sidewalks and communities are pretty you go to others and they struggle so I think being able to really talk about
how communities will be impacted and really being able to use the wording that we can to exercise and show look at your dollars. So I do it in my district where when we put in new sidewalks, I talk about look at your look at your dollars at work. I think collectively each department needs to start doing
that. Look at your dollars at work. Like OPD just had a press conference say look at your dollars at work. This drone footage, I think collectively all of the departments, we really need to start honing in on that in the next couple of weeks. So as we do restaurant programs, this is your dollars at work for you. So people really understand, at least here
in Orlando, I mean there's a strong one kind of party versus another. So, we should be somewhat fine here, but it's explaining that, right? Because all people here is no taxation, less taxation. And so, we've got to say like here's where your dollars go to. And I think like public works does a great job with from drain wells to, you know,
making sure we clean up flooding, etc. Each department and I'm and that's my request here for all of the departments. Start talking about the programs that you all each do and um work with communications to say this is your tax dollars at work, right? and start showing the work that we are because
we've got to beat the negative news that says we our people's tax dollars are going to waste, right? And it's really not. We're really improving our communities the best we can from like when I look at the ADA sidewalks, I got a resident who thanked me because her
brother is blind and now he could walk the streets because we improved and put ADA. So, I think collectively that needs to be what we really do. Every department needs to do it from the bit from business development to public works to OPD to fire department. Start really saying like these are your
dollars at work. Um OFD has started doing a really good job and I want to commend you guys publicly. They start talking about here's your dollars at work in a different aspect the fires and stuff. So I think we've really got to start showing where our where um the taxpayers dollars are going so they really understand the impact the
negative impact that this could have. You know, I reflected over the weekend, let's say this carries out to its end that could come, which is homesteaded properties pay zero property tax, right? So, um, all the land that we annexed
that is in Commissioner Keane's district, why would we permit any single family homes out there? They're not going to pay their way for services. I mean, if you were doing the fiscally responsible thing, you would allow only multifamily to go in out there versus what we know the developers want to do,
which is single family homes out there. But I bet that decision is going to be made in communities all over the >> state as to do we keep allowing single family houses to be built. >> Commissioner Teen, >> so I I don't know if this is an actual
question for you, but maybe we can find out. Um, I know with with Save Our Homes, we're limited to 3%. So, on page two, we say that the uh the non-homestead property assessment increase will go from 10 down to five. Is how big of an impact is that? Has it
been over 5% every year for the last 10 years or we have we kept that is the property assessor kept that assessment down below that number? >> No, I mean in some cases it's been over 5%, you know. I mean, in some cases it's it's maxed out at 10%. It's been it's been a variation of it.
Yes. >> So, if um I mean a non-homesteaded property that might sell to somebody for, you know, $400,000 more than what it's listed at, it's going to get more than a 5% or 10% jump
currently. So, it sometimes it is and sometimes it is a big jump, but they're making sure that it won't go more than that ever. Commission Ortiz. >> Okay. Thank you, mayor. There's there's so many things to to be discussed here. As as I'm looking at page three, it shows
that only 19% of the the properties we have here is is um are homesteaded. That means there's a lot of people living in rentals. And when this goes up cuz uh I would imagine I mean when when they also reduce the amount of u percentage of
save our home I mean u of increasing taxes on the commercial side is going to put a burden in our in our city. Now what's the average surplus that we've been having for the past 5 years? >> I I would say it's been between 25 and $30 million and we've taken that money
and just reinvested it back into um you know PGO capital projects. We we fun we funded different things. We've never used it to to pay for recurring costs. It's always been for onetime costs. >> The reason I ask is because some of this money going to is going to end up being
shifted to those that are that are we're losing right now, especially with law enforcement and firefighters, right? So, what are the alternatives that we have besides bringing down the the amount of employees? What other alternative do we have in order to recoup those monies
that we're losing? Well, I mean, and that's one of the reasons why I I I I I thought we could come back in April or May and give give the, you know, everyone an update is because I want to look at this. We want to look at this holistically. You know, take a look at all of our revenue streams, not just
property tax revenue. Take a look at how they're trending. Take a look at, you know, maybe there's ways we could do things more efficiently, more more effectively. So, take take a look at at everything, you know, revenues, expenses, everything. and then understanding where we could possibly be
start changing or shifting or pivoting to to address those things. So there there's less, you know, more opportunity or or or we have additional resources to be able to fund these things, you know, that potentially could get unfunded or, you know, everybody's
competing for for the same dollars that are less than they were last year. You know, it's pretty sad because uh our revenue from the property taxes is about 48% as we've stated before, but there are cities where their revenue is the property tax revenue is almost 80%. And
those are the ones smaller cities are going to be affected incredibly. On page seven, I noticed that you did the potential impact on responsiveness and you made an average of u positions per resident and those are average for for our government. Can we uh can we address
actually law enforcement and firefighters because I know we had in the past an average of I don't know 2.7 police officers per thousand residents. So what would this how would this reflect now if we have to uh implement
those this changes? How much lower is going because I think this is something we have to tell the community. Um I did a study years ago in terms of police officers in in New York, Boston and Chicago and they had like 4.1 4 to 4.2 police officers per thousand
residents. And we we administer we have managed so efficiently our system that we can do with 2.7. But can we can we go any lower? I don't know. And and this is this is incredibly important for us to convey to our communities how much this is going to
affect our firefighters and police officers in terms of their services, how many officers and and firefighters we have out there. >> Yes, we we have the information and we could definitely, you know, share with with everyone. >> All right. I appreciate bottom line is we have a big job of educating not
advocating advocate on your private time, but educating the public as to what the amendment would do. How about we segue into this year's budget? >> Okay. Well, um um Jason will be here now. He's here to to present the budget. And in in his presentation, he does
actually go into um first responders separate from the rest of the city. Can >> Mayor, if I may, one more thing before we go because as you very well said, it's very important for us to educate, not advocate, but educate our community out there. I want to make sure that as
we speak to our community is it's not misconstrued that we are advocating for any we need to explain both sides of the coin here. So um and people need to understand that we're actually trying to explain how the system works and and I appreciate that comment mayor because
it's very important especially now the Florida legal cities is doing the same well they're actually advocating but but um um we as as commissioners need to go out there and talk to our communities by all means. >> Thank you. >> Mayor do have one more question. Do we know if anyone has filed an appeal to
repeal it with the judge and where we are with it? Cuz I've heard that because the bill currently h because the referendum currently has multiple items in it and by law it's only supposed to have one. Does anyone know where we are in that? >> There's a couple of lawsuits out there. >> Okay. >> Thank you, mayor. Thank you,
commissioners. >> Okay, Jason, you're up. >> All right. Let me just get the presentation swapped out over. I think you're about to get some help. >> All righty. Good morning, mayor and commissioners. We'll go ahead and transition into talking about our budget
proposal for next year, fiscal year 2027. So going into budget development, um a couple of the underlying factors that we kept in mind were first of all just the continued economic uncertainty that we've been experiencing in the last year or two driven by a wide range of factors
domestically and abroad. Um interest rates and inflation that appear to be holding at what most would consider moderate levels. uh continued a little bit of concern about the real estate market both with pricing and affordability on the
residential side and then what the postcoavid environment looks like on the commercial side particularly in our downtown area and a little bit of a looser labor market continuing which has kind of helped us with hiring and lowering our vacancies over the last year or two.
With this in mind, going into the fiscal year 27 budget, um, three main considerations or priorities that we kept in mind were first, continuing to prioritize our core city services, including public safety, funding key commitments
um, like our debt service and Sunrail, as well as maintaining our infrastructure, and as Jose began to allude to, beginning to prepare for the very real potential of property tax reform by minimizing growth in position. and other recurring costs.
You'll see over the next set of slides that this budget largely focuses on public safety needs due to growth in the southeast, accounting for contract cost increases and trying to maintain our infrastructure funding going into the new budget cycle. The
city has also continued to maintain strong fund reserves coming out of the end of the prior year. Um, we're just above our 25% target, which as I Jose mentioned was recognized by the rating agencies during our recent bond issuances and puts us in a good position
going into any property tax reform that may happen. So, today we come before you with a fiscal year 27 budget proposal that is tentatively balanced. As it stands, the general fund uh revenues and expenses
grow approximately $40 million or five a.5% and other funds are also up approximately $40 million or 3.8 million or approximately $40 million bringing us to a total proposed city budget of just shy of $1.9
billion. I'll go over a key a few key highlights that affect the budget overall and then go into more detail about our general fund and other fund budgets as well as our capital program for the upcoming year. So looking at citywide revenues or
revenues overall uh first and foremost this proposal assumes that the city maintains the millage rate at 6.65 65 mills which if approved would be the 13th year at that rate and thus the 12th cycle that we haven't raised it. Um citywide property tax revenue at that
millillage is estimated to grow approximately 6% and that's from a combination of new construction as well as modest increases in valuations. Other general fund revenue sources such as our OU dividend and economically sensitive revenues like sales taxes are growing
slightly slower than property taxes um at around 5% combined. And overall, this is really the third year of slower, more moderate growth that we've seen down in the 5 to 6% range across all of our revenue sources.
Touching on some of our other funds, you may recall that several of our enterprises have recently implemented rate adjustments. Um, so you have parking, water recreck, solid waste, and storm water. And those are all incorporated in next year's proposals
for those respective funds as well. So, shifting to look at personnel. Um, this budget proposal picks up a few mid-year position changes and then incorporates the position changes that are outlined on the table to the right.
Um, the budget adds 37 new positions in fire and nine in police, totaling 46 positions across our public safety departments combined. Within that group are 30 firefighters and six paramedics for the soontobe completed fire station
18 in the southeast as well as eight police officers to also support growth in the southeast. After we get past the public safety departments though, um you'll notice that there's a net decrease of nine positions across the rest of the general fund departments. Some of the key
highlights including include deleting a number of unneeded vacant positions across the executive offices and families parks and wreck in particular. Um within executive offices, the winding down of the rise community employment program and transferring the seven remaining small business enterprise
program positions from executive offices out to economic development as that reinvisioned program is becoming part of their business development team. Across the general fund, we've emphasized dropping or repurposing long vacant or unneeded positions to meet the
city's latest needs while minimizing the additional budget needed. Probably the most notable example of where that played out was families parks and recreation where um after we did drop vacancies, we were able to add four new positions. Three to improve staffing coverage at our rec centers and one for
general maintenance. Moving outside the general fund towards the bottom of the chart, a number of other funds added positions if needed and supported by their revenues. The most notable of which was probably storm water um where they added six positions to support teams that address drainage, water
bodies, street sweeping, among other tasks. This budget also includes funding for a 4% pay increase for employees, which fulfills the second year of our collective bargaining union agreements. Outside of our benefited positions, the
budget proposal also includes a significant increase in temporary seasonal staff funding uh primarily to account for minimum wage increases that are affecting mostly families parks and wreck um both directly for positions that are at the minimum as well as the
compounding effect that raising those positions has across the team for their supervisors and up through the chain. um as well as uh staffing for OPD's academy. Looking at operating and capital expenses um in this budget, we continue
to see a significant increase in IT contract costs really driven by those contracts related to OPD or security. Um that includes items like Axon body cameras, tasers and drone contracts, CAD communications tools, as well as the
more traditional enduser software like Microsoft that you may use in your day-to-day um tasks on the computer. Um utilities is also under pressure in this budget really driven by data services and electric costs. Um police retains a
significant pool of leased vehicles. Um, and while we have leveled out that quantity as we begin to pursue shifting back towards more city-owned vehicles, the costs continue to escalate in the interimm. Um, additionally, you know, we noted we're going to be including some
additional sworn positions in this budget, and you not only have to add the positions themselves, but you also have to equip those positions with protective gear in the case with police uh vehicles as well. Um, and so those are some additional costs
that come with each of the sworn officers. The city's share of Sunrail costs continue to grow um for next fiscal year. And all of that said, we in this budget, we really tried to continue to emphasize the importance of maintaining
our infrastructure. And so we maintained our general fund contribution to capital near the prior year level, just over $30 million. So these first few slides have really looked at the budget overall. Um so now we're going to spend some time focusing on specific funds that make up the
budget. Um mostly we'll spend most of the time on the general fund today. And and the thing I want you to keep in mind as we do that is the city budget collectively is actually nearly 100 individual fund budgets that have to be balanced individually. This graph just gives you a sense of the different types
of funds that are included in the budget and what type of functions make up those. So, the general fund is by far the largest and that's where a lot of your core city services such as public safety are located. Um, enterprises are things like water rex all the way storm
water parking and venues where uh these are entities that uh charge fees for their services directly to the users and cover their own costs. Uh special revenue funds is where you see um areas where they receive revenues restricted for a specific purpose or u funds like
our grant funds among others. So as the general fund is by far the uh largest fund in our budget, we'll go ahead and spend some time now specifically looking at the general fund beginning with our revenues. So overall general fund revenues are
estimated to increase roughly $40 million or 5 a.5% and the table below shows the major sources from the largest source to the smallest. You'll see that property taxes are roughly half of our total general fund revenues and they
drop off quickly from there. Um property taxes again are growing near 6% and collectively the average of the remaining revenues are growing roughly 5%. um after stronger growth right out of co right a before and after co again this is the third year that we're now
seeing slower more moderate revenue growth down in the 5 to 6% range we're going to talk about the top four sources on this next few slides but before we move off of this table I just have a two quick things to note um the transfers
inline is almost entirely driven by revenues from our utility services taxes that are first recorded in a separate t fund and then moved back to the general fund. And then the other revenue line is reimbursement for extra duty policing
services um where we send police officers say to staff of Publix for security and then they pay us back um as well as interest earnings on our cash balances. So now going back to the top four revenue sources, we'll go ahead and highlight each of those with more
specifics. Property taxes again are the largest at nearly half. Um for next fiscal year we proposing to rem leave the millage rate flat at 6.65 and at that millage rate anticipate them growing roughly 6%. That growth comes from a combination of new
construction and increases in existing values. Um and recently we've seen a little bit over a third of our property tax increases coming from the new construction side. So, a little bit more than a third from new construction, a
little bit less than two Orlando and our services. Um, the school board and the county also make up a significant portion. The second largest revenue grouping, intergovernmental revenues, includes a couple items like state and grant revenues. But by far the largest piece
is our OU dividend payment that we receive from the utility as the owner of OU. At nearly $81 million, it makes up nearly 10% of general fund revenues. This is a resource that not all cities have. And while it's not going to be something that grows dramat dramatically
since it is based on the financial results of a utility, it is a solid and stable source of revenue for the city. Charges for services collectively are the third largest group of revenues making up roughly 10% of the total. That
said, unlike the previous two slides or the previous two revenue types, um this grouping is made up of many different types of charges. In general, um the orange and yellow segments are charges to customers for using specific city
services. things like the school board reimbursing us for having SRO officers, um businesses or individuals paying for fire inspections and permit fees, individuals paying fees for our parks, um for entry or facility rentals and
that type of thing. EMS fees include payment for ambulance transport services. On the green side of the chart, these are charges that the general fund makes to other internal city customers or funds. Um essentially the general fund u
re getting reimbursed by say our enterprise funds for services that we provide on their behalf that they would otherwise have to pay for themselves. Things like providing payroll processing, procurement, legal budget services for example. We're able to recoup some of those costs from our
other funds. And then lastly, um sales and use taxes are the fourth largest revenue grouping. And really sales taxes are by far the main component of that. Um this graph shows sales tax budgets and on the blue
bars and actuals on the red line over the past several years. Um this revenue source is highly correlated with economic activity and you see that it grew dramatically coming out of the pandemic. Um, we were very hesitant to raise the budget to match early on as
the impact of and restrictions surrounding COVID kind of ebbed and flowed for a while and you never quite knew if that was going to um continue. That said, you'll see now we've fully tred up the budget to actuals and the interesting thing to note here is that
the actuals have really been flat for several years if we've done that. We appear to hit a plateau of sorts which if you recall the earlier summary you really see with slower growth across most of our revenues more than the other three largest groups of revenues. It's
also worth keeping in mind that this group is very sensitive to changes in inflation or economic conditions. Um and that could have a significant impact on economically sensitive type revenues such as this. So shifting over to the expense side of
the general fund, overall general fund expenses are also proposed to increase roughly $40 million or 5 a.5%. And below we show those expenses and the change from the prior year broken out by department organized by the dollar
change amount versus the prior year. Um just looking at the departments with major changes. Um largest increase in dollars is in police. Um there we're picking up nine new positions including eight sworn officers, growth in the cost of vehicle leases, as well as vehicle
operating costs like insurance and fuel and one-time funding for some equipment, furniture, and other supply needs that they have. Fire's second largest dollar increase. Um, and of course go thinking back to the staffing summary earlier in fire, we're adding 37 new positions,
including 30 sworn firefighters and six paramedics to staff staff the upcoming new fire station 18. In business and financial services, there is a near $8 million increase in IT contracts and data related utility
costs. So for most most of the city's IT and data related costs roll up under IT and finance. Um a little over 2 million of that was moved from the capital budget into this operating budget. But even after backing out that 2 million, it's still a significant increase in an
area we're seeing a lot of cost pressure. In transportation, we pick up a nearly $2 million increase in the city's share of Sunreil costs. Um, looking down at uh, executive offices and economic development, you
may recall from the staffing change slide that the small business enterprise program is moving from executive offices to economic development. And you see that reflected here with a decrease in executive offices and the increase in economic development. And then non-EP departmental
um down is is down due to lower transfers out for debt service internal loans and support for other city's funds as well as well as being able to include more costs directly in the department budgets. Shifting to looking at um the previous uh breakdown visually, you can see that
public safety accounts for well over half of our budget u between police and fire. Um, we wanted to show this in this manner um to give you a little more context about the non-ED departmental department since it has a very descriptive name. [snorts] Um,
off to the right you'll see that that is that is broken down by the components to give you a little more of an a breakdown on that grouping. It's made up of the general fund contribution to capital projects, tax increment payments to our CRAAS, debt service payments, and a
contingency to grow the dollars we have in reserve proportionally with our budget side. Essentially, these are the general fund expenses that don't really relate to any specific department. Particularly with the discussion around property tax reform, it's important to
note that our property taxes don't even cover the cost of public safety. That gap is also growing, going from $46 million in fiscal year 26 to now $58 million in fiscal year 27. Meaning that prop public safety costs are growing
faster than our property tax revenues. So now we shift to looking at the general fund expenses by type or use rather than what department they fall under. Uh first, personnel costs make up the largest portion of the budget by far at roughly 62%.
Um coming up we have a slide on each of the major categories in a moment but while you see them all together there's two places where we have significant transfers of cost between lines that I want to highlight where you while you can still see both lines at the same
time. First is related to Sunreil which is moving from the contractual line to other operating at near $20 million. You can see that being added into the other operating line. However, while contractual is down, it's no it's down
nowhere near $20 million, which is due to other increases like IT contracts that are offsetting that. Additionally, in our public safety areas where we have outfitting, upfitting, and stock maintenance costs, um we are shifting a
lot of that from capital to supplies to better align with how expenses are actually recorded. So, we're now going to look at a more detailed breakdown of each of these types of expenses. So, beginning with personnel costs,
um you can see here core components are salaries are by far the largest followed by standard employee benefits as well as pension and post-employment benefits that our sworn officers receive. Um while they're small in dollar amount, you can also see that overtime and
temporary seasonal staffing costs are highlighted here. Um now that I I I've now overlaid the percentage change versus the prior year um for each of the PO components to give you a little more perspective on what's driving the changes. So first looking at
salaries um this is where we pick up the impact of adding a net of 40 additional general fund positions as well as the 4% pay increases for employees. benefit costs collectively are up only modestly and after needing to realign our
overtime budgets last cycle um increases are have really moderated there as well. Um the biggest percentage increases actually in the smallest um dollar amount smallest section of the piraphph are temporary seasonal employee costs. Um, and again that's driven by minimum
wage increases primarily affecting FPR um, as well as the OPD academy staffing for trainees. I'll note that um, while benefit costs are up only modestly overall, healthcare costs are up just under 5% from a
budget-to-budget comparison while we're still on personnel costs. Um and and Jose talked about this a little bit earlier. One way that we evaluate the efficiency and the effectiveness of government is comparing the number of employees versus residents. Naturally, as the population grows, so does the
need for increased staff to provide necessary public services. And looking at staffing in this manner rather than just by position count help gives you a better perspective on how the two compare. You can see that the rate of staffing growth slowed during COVID, but the city population continued to
steadily increase with the positions included for fiscal year 27. The general fund and overall city staffing ratios still declined slightly. Although personnel costs and positions are going up, the population rem continues to grow
faster. Over the last decade, the city has demonstrated efficient delivery of services with a general fund staffing ratio that has hovered just over eight employees. Eight employees per thousand residents. Um during
Jose's comments, there was discussion about looking at public safety specifically. And so here you can see within the general fund um what the staffing ratio looks like um when you only include our public safety first responders and police and fire. You can see that as the city's population has
grown, we have prioritized growing our first responder staffing to accommodate that. And that continues for fiscal year 27. If you think back to the staffing slide, recall that the only departments where we truly added net new additional positions to overall were the two public
safety departments collectively. And then um if we were to not add any additional positions for the next several years, um you can imagine that those both both ratios would begin to decline in a similar slope to what we saw with the general city employees in
Jose's presentation. Can I ask question? >> Sure. Commissioner, [clears throat] >> sorry that that um 2.6% as as of expectancy for 2027 doesn't include the officers. I mean it includes the
officers we have the airport, right? >> So we wanted so this this graph here only looks at the general fund the the the core city officer >> includes everything. >> So it does not include the separate god. is the general fund only. >> No. Okay. But that pays that pays for
all the officers because the GOA fund pays for those officers at the airport for all of them. >> Yeah. So they reim So essentially we segregate the officers that are assigned to go into a separate GOA fund. >> Um and then they reimburse us for most of those costs. >> So it still comes from the general fund.
Then we get reimbursed. >> We we charge those to a separate fund. So we've kept them isolated from the general fund. If they do not reimburse us for all the costs at the end of the year, we could hypothetically have to cover that difference. But we have completely separated them. So you see
them in a separate GOA fund as opposed to the general fund. >> So we're looking at this from the perspective of budget, not from physical count of officers. >> It it does represent the physical count of officers that are on the general fund. So essentially all of our officers except for the ones that are at Goa.
>> I got it. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'm sorry about that. >> And and I will say at different times, you know, we've shown all city versus the general fund. So, but this particular graph looks at only the general fund officers. So, shifting to contractual services,
you'll see that IT contracts make up the largest part uh of contractual costs and those are heavily focused around OPD and security needs. Our collective contract with Axon for body cameras, tasers, drones, and their associated software
and storage are almost $8 million per year, for example. All other the all other category contains a wide range of contracts across most of the departments. Everything from radio services to employee medical screening to FPR program. Additionally, here
you'll see that police lease vehicles are a significant component of contractual costs as well as building and ground maintenance throughout the city and right-of-way lake and path maintenance. Um remember also as we move on to overlay the changes on the next
slide that contractual is down only because Sunrails moved out of here to other operating. So, as we overlay the change versus the prior year, um the all other section again that's down because Sunreil's coming out of there. Looking at the
other major changes, it contracts are up roughly $6.5 million. Um, a little bit over two million was us taking some Axon costs that were previously in the capital budget and consoliding them here in the operating budget in the same
place with all the other Axon body camera costs which also went up $1.5 million. So there you have two and one and a half or three and a half. The remaining three million comes from a range of other IT contracts, including CAD communications
tools going up one and a half million, proof point security going up roughly 600,000, and Microsoft's uh overall suite of products going up roughly 400,000. Um, and those are really the ones that stand out. Many of our IT contracts go up at least a few% a year
with inflation. Police retains a significant pool of leased vehicles. And you can see here that despite us leveling out the quantity, um, those costs continue to escalate just under $2 million or near 24%.
Right. Lake and path maintenance costs have also grown over time with the expansion of the city to the southeast and the growth of our road network. Though again, I'll note that the storm water fund covers roughly half of those costs. Looking at now supplies. Given the wide
range of items that fall under supplies, we show these by department and you can see that public safety departments make up the bulk of it. Supplies are where the cost of outfitting new sworn police and fire positions fall as well as maintaining the stock of frequently used
items like gun guns and ammo, medical supplies, and so on. for OBFS. Um the the cost there is actually our workday financial system subscription based on how it's recorded. So as we overlay the changes from versus the prior year, you
can see u biggest increases in OPD. We have an increase of a little bit over $4 million. That's essentially half outfitting the new positions and the uh the stock of supplies that moved over from capital and the other half is
roughly at roughly uh $2 million is various one-time equipment and furniture needs and upgrades that the department has prioritized for OFD. The increase is primarily tied to outfitting those 36 new positions for the upcoming fire station 18. 30
firefighters and six paramedics. Families parks and wreck utilizes a fair amount of materials for the upkeep of their sites. For example, mulch was a major need this cycle and again for business and financial services that's driven by a software subscription cost.
Moving to utilities. Um, this category contains your traditional utilities like electric and water at city sites and facilities as well as street lighting throughout the city limits and data services such as internet phones and public safety specific connectivity.
Additionally, as a nonadvalorum assessment, our parcels are not exempt from our own storm water storm water fees either. As far as changes from the prior year, we've seen a significant increase in data service costs, particularly for public safety in recent years. Um,
recent storm water rate adjustments also needed to be fully accounted for in the budget. Street lighting is growing a little more than traditional utilities as we've included subscribing it to OU's community solar program um this cycle in pursuit of meeting a greater portion of the city's electric needs from
sustainable sources. Here we look at fleet facilities by department. Um, each department has a little bit of different mix between the two. Police is more fleet heavy with their vehicles. FPR is more facility
heavy and fire has kind of an even mix of both. This cycle, most of the increase from the prior year is on the fleet side and you see that reflected in the departments that have higher percentage increases, namely police and fire. Depending on the situation, it's a combination of increased maintenance,
insurance, replacement, and fuel costs. And many of our other funds, our enterprises are seeing similar pressures. Moving to other operating um this this grouping contains a fairly wide range of expenses such as our tax increment payments to several CRAAS now Sunrail
which recently was added into this category, our debt service and a reserve contingency to grow our reserve dollars in proportion to our budget size as well as community organization contributions. Looking at the changes versus the prior year, Sunro moved into this category um
from contractual, so it's here for the first time, but note the cost did go up 1.9 million in the process. Our contingency for reserves is up to dollars to our reserve proportionally to our budgets growth. CRA tax payments are down slightly in line with slightly
lower property values in the downtown area. community organization funding declined within FPR only because certain programming payments were shifted to contractual services. Um, and so that's just a relocation of those dollars, not a reduction in the the overall funding
for that program. and debt service was down a little as we were able to allocate part of the repayment of our recently issued general fund covenant bond um to other funding sources which we just to be safe didn't initially assume that we could.
And then to cover the last few remaining lines, um we have them grouped together here. Um, training is primarily up due to funding a new $600,000 civilian paramedic training program within HR um to hopefully help address the vacancies
and recruiting challenges that that we've had with those positions. Capital is lower because a lot of the OPD stock costs have shifted to supplies. And compared to the prior year, we needed fewer additional vehicles with a little bit lower number of additional police
officers compared to the prior cycle. And transfers out are down a little bit as um some of those Axon contract costs that used to be on our capital program where we had to send the funds out to the capital fund are now being kept in the operating budget. So you have to
transfer less dollars out. So we'll go ahead and and and move out of the general fund here and just touch on a few of the other key operating funds. And most of these are independent enterprise funds that have to charge for their services and ultimately cover their own costs.
So going down the list um looking at water reclamation, solid waste, storm water, and the parking system. Note that they all recently implemented rate adjustments. Um the CRA's operating fund is down significantly as only the funds left over after debt service become
available for operations. As you may recall, they recently issued uh debt that they have to begin paying back. So that that debt issuance helps them fund some of the major upcoming projects like Lake Yola, but it does mean that there's less funding left over after making the
debt service payments to send to the rest of their operations here. Kia and Camping World continue to do well u and particularly Camping World has seen a strong uptick in recent years which they've been gradually recognizing in their budget. My understanding is a lot of it is the festivals that you've seen
around there recently. And I'll note that our federal and state housing grant programs were up both very modestly um this cycle. So the next few slides just give you a little bit more detailed breakdown of each of these funds looking at personnel
versus operating in capital. Um the thing to highlight here is a unlike most gen most unlike the general fund most of these funds have their dollars goes going towards operating and capital costs rather than personnel like the general fund has and B their personnel
costs are fairly stable. Uh most of the swing you see from any increase or decrease in their revenue is really impacting the operating and capital side. So, water wreck, you have a lot of heavy duty facilities that have chemical supply and utility costs and they regularly need capital equipment. Uh,
solid waste is a little more personnelheavy than the others. Um, but tipping and landfill costs and vehicle costs um really drive their budgets. storm water. Um the past few years of rate adjustments have helped them begin
to fund a PGO capital program um which they really couldn't afford after their day-to-day operating costs previously. And so hopefully over time that'll begin to translate into um being able to complete beneficial projects in that area. The downtown CRA, the operating
fund again is down significantly as only funds left over after debt service become available for operations. But they do have the proceeds from that recent debt issuance to fund major downtown projects. Continue to see strong performance in the venues, particularly in camping
world. Uh parking operations of course require not only regular staffing for pavement or pavement collections and enforcement, but they also have many physical garages that need maintenance over time. Um, and then again, we're fortunate this cycle
for our housing grant funds to continue to receive at least a modest increase in those grant programs. So, again, that's just a snippet of some of the largest funds. um you know in approximately two weeks we'll have a more detailed publication for you that'll have more detail particularly on
the the other funds as well as the capital program which I'm going to highlight a few key things here um but more details will be forthcoming. So first if we look at our capital program at a whole across all funds we have approximately $108 million capital
program proposed for next fiscal year that is down around $19 million from the prior year. Um that said, the general fund's contribution towards capital remains fairly stable. The reason it's down is both the CRA and Water Reclamation recently issued bonds which
now have to be paid back. Um and picking up that debt service does noticeably reduce how much PIGO funding they have for projects. But again, they issued bonds that give them resources for the most pressing needs that they have. Today, we'll just highlight a couple of specific projects that we have uh
through the wide range of sources. Um before I leave this slide though, I do want to point out though um earlier on when we looked at the general fund breakdown, you saw a lot of focus on the public safety departments for operating costs and personnel. When you look at capital, it's really our infrastructure heavy areas like public works,
transportation, and economic development because the CRA is included there um that have the largest components of our capital program. They have a lot of heavy duty facilities, vehicles, and equipment. So, just touching on a couple of the components of our capital program
by by uh facility or area business, we continue to invest in our neighborhood centers. Uh beginning efforts towards um an office buildout at Lake Lornado Dune. Um minor ren neighborhood center renovations.
Um investments in our in our pools at our neighborhood centers. Um, we continue to set aside funding to renovate major parks and playgrounds. Um, this cycle there's funds set aside for the Ivy Lake Lane playground and the
Rosemount playground. And we continue to invest in our maintaining our boat docks, peers, and boardwalks with the dock boardwalk renovations at Langford Park included this cycle as well as uh continue to maintain our athletic
fields. In this budget, as in prior years, we continue to fund a planned maintenance and renovation uh effort for our own city buildings, ensuring that over time um we proactively identify areas where the
building envelope, you know, facades and roofs um are at risk and and replace those before um any major repairs are needed. Uh likewise with HVAC systems. Again, our facilities team works hard to look at where repair repairs may be needed
and try to get ahead of of any major issues. Um we also invest in emergency power systems at our major facilities so that during hurricanes or other outages that um electric can be maintained in them.
On the vehicle and driver side, we've begun preliminary design or to fund preliminary design efforts on a potential driver training facility to help not only our public safety areas, but many of our enterprises where they
have um commercial drivers that operate heavy vehicles to hopefully be able to um look at putting together a facility for them to practice and train. We fund um the continual rep repair and remediation of our sidewalks and paths
um as well as the streets where this cycle at a total of $8 million collectively between all the projects um it is again the most we've ever allocated for pavement rehabilitation our transportation >> question quick question on that I'm
sorry mayor is that okay >> um the pavement rehab and I'm going to get back to this on my questions. $8 million. What do you think we need? >> Just an example of something I'm going to bring up later.
>> So, I I would say that um our requests from public works uh far exceed that. Um the exact number escapes me, but it is but is it's close to double. The point is that as well as
storm water as well as sidewalks as well as tree trimming as well as park benches and I'll I'll get back to it on my questions because I've got a few. >> Commissioner Rose, you want in right? >> Yes. I wanted to stay right here. So what I don't see on here are we added a
massive amount of red light cameras. Um, I don't see that anywhere highlighted here and where those projects are going because a majority of them did end up in district five. And so, as we talk about like rehab, I just that's going to be a key component that I didn't see
highlighted here, the additional cameras um that we've um added across the city. I didn't see that highlighted anywhere at all um in this this presentation cuz that was one of the key components when I I asked that question when we approved it last year was that I was told the
dollars would stay within that community. So obviously some of the ones in Colonial Commissioner Chapen and I share but there were a mass amount that were going into District 5. >> So you you are correct. I don't have that particular project highlighted here. Um, but both the red light cameras
fund and the uh any surplus funding going to the transportation safety projects are something that's included in this budget proposal and it it'll be listed in the commissioner notebook that you receive later on. U so again uh we continue to invest in
our sidewalk paths and streets with this being the largest pavement rehab investment that we've had in recent history. though as uh Commissioner Chapen alluded to um that that does not perhaps does not quite meet the ideal
need in that area. Um our transportation impact fee funds continue to contribute towards um impact of growth on our roadway network. We continue to invest on citywide signal reconstruction and just general intersection safety
improvements overall. our water reclamation system, our sewer system, um, like I said, recently issued bonds, but also continues to have a strong PGO capital program, um, investing in our major plants as well as systemwide maintenance. And our storm
water enterprise, um, has nearly $17 million in PIGO projects to help address needs for our lakes and then drainage in general. While it's not the largest piece of our capital program, we do have several significant projects funded for the
public safety areas. Um the regular replacement and maintenance of their radios for both departments um within police uh communication system upgrades, emergency dispatch, uh center renovations, facility improvements, and
equipment replacement for the protective wearable equipment that our officers have to work wear out in the field each day. in fire. They also have wearable protective equipment that we always ensure that we keep uh replacing as
needed to maintain the latest standards. And then we also have funded capital improvements um for equipment or their facilities. The CRA while also recently issuing bonds does also have some operating funding available and some of that can
go back towards PGO projects. And so you see you can see the the key focus areas highlighted there. And then just to touch on the last few um we continue to fund uh both the replacement of uh
equipment as it wears out and looking towards future enhancements or savings and information technology. The parking system continues to invest in the maintenance of their garages and we continue to set aside funding towards affordable housing. again particularly for the other funds
in the capital section. This is something where in the weeks that come um more information will be provided in the more detailed commissioner notebook. So returning to the start of today's presentation at this point we have a tenatively balanced budget proposal.
There can and likely will be minor changes over the next few weeks as we refine our estimates, get additional information. Um, but we come in today's workshop with a balancing solution for each of our funds. Looking forward, uh, shortly um, later
today, this workshop presentation will be posted to the city's website. This afternoon, you'll consider agenda items to approve the tenative millage rates for the city, downtown development board, and down south neighborhood improvement district that ultimately
support the budgets that were proposed today. Commissioners, in two weeks, we will provide you with a much more detailed commissioner budget notebook that goes through this proposal in depth and then subsequently posted on the city website.
That'll be followed up with us working with your offices to schedule commissioner budget briefings in August before we finalize the proposal for our two budget hearings in September. So with that, mayor and commissioners, thank you for your continued support and leadership. Many of the approaches we've
taken over the past few years, such as careful budgeting and building a reserve, will prove crucial, particularly if property tax reform passes. I'd also like to take a moment to thank our department directors and their fiscal teams for their contributions to the budget and of
course the budget divi division itself for all of the checking and compiling of information together that has to go into getting ready for this presentation today. So with that I can take any questions. >> Okay. Thank you. Questions, comments? Let's start with Commissioner Burns.
>> All right. Uh thank you mayor and uh thank you for that presentation and and kudos to our uh to the team uh because this is a very dynamic um budget process. So so thank you all for that. I I did have a question. There was a mention of cost assoc associated with
overtime. I think about 18.3 million. Do we know what departments or areas are really driving that overtime? And and and the reason why I asked that because we have reduction in in personnel. Uh
but I'm cons I'm interested to see what will that further reduction increase more of the the overtime. So our overtime budget is essentially split between police and fire and and both were up a modestly similar amount
in that 6% range this cycle. Um, I mean it is a c- it is certainly a possibility if you know if you have more demands for service and you don't add positions that could result in additional overtime. Um, but of course the other side of that is if do you have the resources to pay for
that overtime or would you just have reduced service? >> Right. Right. Right. >> Yeah. because I and I think that's something we have we have to look at because we do show, you know, a a a reduction in increases in some areas, but if in on the back end we're now paying, you know, higher overtime, we
may have to kind of adjust that thinking. So, thank you for that. >> But I I'll just add, Commissioner B. So, what you have to think about is, and I'll give an example, [snorts] if there's a 911 call, a police officer and a firefighter can't leave the scene. So, overtime is a must. um than if officers or firefighters get hurt, then somebody
has to pick up their time. So, it's better to have the money in the budget and let's monitor filling the positions because the more positions we can get filled, which I think collectively we all need to be working on, making sure we're encouraging our communities to become police officer and firefighters, the more we can fill our positions and
not have vacant positions, the less opportunities for overtime. But you can't leave a 911 call. uh dispatcher can't leave a 911 call if they're in the middle of a call and someone's, you know, they're walking a person through until um a respond, first responder gets there. So, I think it's better to have the dollars there, but I think
collectively we've got to work. >> I wasn't saying that we shouldn't have it. I was just wanting us to really look at the impact of having not having been fully staffed and that the impact on because I know we have to have you know the overtime but I wanted to make sure that we're not not filling positions
which then is driving a higher overtime than would have been budgeted if we had um we were staffed correctly. >> Okay, >> Commissioner Chapen. Uh slide number 11 um which shows
despite that we haven't increased millage obviously the the value of the property has gone up um and I think this is the slide that has given the proponents of property tax uh reform the most ammunition and
uh math is not my strong suit. So, uh it the fact that uh the taxes is at 100% increase um in the last 10 years and and inflation is more like 35% over the same
period. And the mayor pointed out and we point out all the time that our general revenue doesn't even cover public safety, which is a good zinger. Um, I feel like I we need to come up with a better way to explain this slide. Um,
and I was getting to it a little bit with my question earlier. Um, and it's it's going to come to that educational thing we talked about. We need to be talking about all the things that are on the list that you know, storm water,
baffle boxes, roads, sidewalks, u because we just we don't have enough revenue to do all those things. even though revenue has increased at a pace that out that outpaces inflation and probably outpaces um folks general
household income. Um but but also I think that's a impact on our uh reflective of the growth of the city you know so so it's not like you know cuz our millage rate has stayed the same but I think those increases are really driven by how well the city is
doing. So, we want to show that we're doing well, but also I I agree. We want to make sure that people recognize that that increase is not because we've raised taxes. >> We understand that it's it's based on the value, but we've had we've been fortunate that that our we have a
growing community and the value of one home last year is 100,000 and the value if it sells or the value goes up, we enjoy that. Or 500 new houses are built. >> Yeah. New construction, which you said this year was about a third of the growth. Is that average?
>> It averages near a third. This cycle it's actually a little bit above a third, >> but a third is in general or >> correct. >> So public police officers, I mean public safety, I mean we we've hired way more than the a you know that's not been an
average 2 3%. We we've we've gone way up and above on on >> well. So I think so the I guess the two comments I would add is one when we look at the property tax grow revenue growth
percentage if you look at it just compared to inflation I I don't know the number offhand but yeah I'm I suspect it grows faster than the inflation number however if you compare both inflation and our population growth to our property tax growth it's much more
similar. Um, and on the public safety staffing, we have added a lot of positions, but compared to our population, the ratio has really stayed flat over the last several years. >> Well, those are the type of things I'm looking for to to help explain um
that argument that I think the property tax uh proponents are using that our revenues, despite having not raised taxes, are growing at a much faster rate than everything else. Um uh [sighs] CRA suns setting. What happens when that
happens? >> Does it go away? >> It goes what? The money does not go away, but the money will go directly into the general fund of the county and the city >> and it won't it won't grow anymore. The
incremental >> the CRA won't, but the TIFF will continue. >> Okay. Hopefully. >> Yeah. >> Um >> I'm sorry. >> 18 years. >> 18 years from now. No. >> No.
>> 13, right? >> 2042. >> David's shaking his head. It's 13 years, I think. >> Yeah. It's January 1st, 2042. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was closer than that, but um Okay. I also think that uh
create creating a wish list, a waiting list, a priority list of things that we still can't even touch with our budget. I mean, the the massive storm water needs that we have, the massive repavement things that we need. I mean, again, it it's if people are complaining
that, you know, the our budget is growing at a faster rate or there's a need for property tax, I think we need to be able to inform them of the calls we all get every day about, you know, things that that we really don't have the money to address. So, just a just a
thought. Thank you. >> Which commissioner, there are simple things. Back in 0809, we had the similar situation caused by the economy, not by um Tallahassee, but simple things like cutting the grass in our parks and on
the sides of roads. People complained when I understand >> and um resurfacing roads and sidewalks and things of that nature. >> Okay, Commissioner Keane, >> just a quick question. So on capital improvement program by department that's
a mix of general fund as well as other funds right >> that's correct it's that's the entire capital program across all funds >> well and just going [clears throat] back to some earlier comments here I think it's kind of important to to highlight where that money comes from because as
we heard you know we don't have enough money to pave the streets or repave the streets right and that is coming from general fund right >> correct >> as opposed to sanitary sew sewers which is coming from the enterprise fund Correct. >> So, breaking them out, I mean, we could easily say that we're, you know, $30
million a year in repaving and we're and we're underwater every year and we're not getting any better. The backlog continues to grow and that's out of the general fund. >> Correct. So, the general fund is the largest source for payment funding. Correct. Thank you.
>> We do get a contribution from the gas tax as well, but that has been flat for some time. Okay. Anybody else? >> I just want to say thank you to the entire finance team. So, we were asking some hard questions, but thank you all from the entire from the entire business
finance office for all the >> Thank you all for all the hard work that you do um keeping us in line. So, I wanted to say that publicly. >> Commissioner Ortiz, >> thank you, Mayor. Um I can't say enough about you guys. every year you guys do it better and better and better. So I
appreciate that. It was really detailed. Uh we got into particulars. Uh when we're talking about the enterprise funds, I know that as we were also talking about uh intergovernmental
revenues we get I know we get the ones from OU, but I was looking for the rest of the money as you guys show on the table. Is that coming from the enterprise funds? Some of that money is coming from the enterprise funds to pay for the uh administrative
>> so of it. >> Intergovernmental is our OC dividend um some state revenue sharing and a couple other smaller sources. The funding that the general fund charges or recoups from our enterprise funds falls under charges for services. Um if you may recall on
slide 14 >> you have the orange and yellow parts of the graph and then the green part of the graph. So the the two green sections of the bar chart represent our cost allocation which is where the general fund allocates shared service costs like
finance legal HR out to the enterprise funds for their use of that service. Um, additionally, our our core enterprises, uh, water recreck, solid waste, storm water, and parking pay an enterprise dividend, um, to the general fund in
addition. And so those two collectively are where the general funds recouping either current costs or previous investments um, in those that are effectively for those enterprises. >> Okay, one more question. non-depart uh expenses
page 17. What are those? >> So if you go to the immediate next slide where you have the the pie chart breakout, >> you'll see that one get that gives a little more detail. So non-EP departmental um you have the general
fund contribution to our capital program is probably the biggest piece. >> Um the share of our own property tax revenues that we have to pay to the CRAAS. So, our CRA tax increment payments are included there, our debt service payments are included there, as well as the reserve contingency where we
essentially uh budget to not use a certain amount of dollars so that we can grow our reserve proportionally with our our budget um to try to keep that reserve ratio reserve percentage. >> Do we ever get any rebates from the CRA anymore?
So we don't for the downtown CRA because any funds that the downtown CRA doesn't use for debt service go towards their operations. >> So from anywhere else? Um when we
had the Conroy Road and Republic Drive CRAAS um we did get a rebate from those um because they were only able to use our increment on debt service and so any remaining balance was sent back to us. However, as of the fiscal year 27
budget, both of those will be sunseted >> and the county gets >> so the county gets to keep their portion and then we also get to keep our portion as well. >> Okay. All right. Appreciate it. Great presentation. Thank you. >> Okay. I will take note, Commissioner
Chapen, and I don't want to give any uh meaningful substance or validity to the Doge efforts or the CFO's efforts, but they did make note that the city of Orlando, if you were using the formula
of inflation and population growth, was the closest local government to being exactly on track with that. So, we were the best of the worst according to them any event. So, um you can take that for
what it's worth. So, Jason, Jose, the entire finance team, thank you for um the great work that you've done and putting together this commissioners. Thank you for your thoughtful comments. you'll have an opportunity to work on the budget uh more closely over the
course of the next month or so. And then we'll have our um public meetings in September. Remember, those will be 501 meetings. But how about uh if all our finance staff would stand up and let us give you guys some love.
[applause] >> Okay, Jason, anything else? Uh, no mayor, that's it. Uh, like I mentioned, in approximately two weeks, we will have the more detailed commissioner notebook available for all of you and we will also post it on the web at that time. >> Okay. Thank you. We'll stand a journ.
>> Mayor did the state ever. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] Part: 2
[music] Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Hey, hey,
hey. >> [music] >> Are you feeling me? >> [music] >> Heat [music] up Hey, hey, hey.
>> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. Heat.
[music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Hey. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat.
[music] [music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Hey, All right. Good afternoon and welcome to
the July 13, 2026 meeting of the Orlando City Council. We're going to begin today's proceedings with the invocation today invocation and pledge of allegiance led by Commissioner Shan Rose. Commissioner >> um out of respect of everyone's religion
um if you would bow your heads with me that would be great. Um dear heavenly father thank you for bringing us here today. I want to just take this time to say thank you. Thank you for giving us opportunity to wake up and see another day. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to gather here today. Each
one of us have a different heart, but we all want the same thing, and that's the greater good, better quality of life. Give us all the discernment to do what's right and the greater good for our city, our districts, and the people that we serve. I ask for your continued grace,
mercy, and blessings over everything that we do in this city. Jesus name I pray. Amen. >> Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under
God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, let's call the meeting to order. Madam clerk, would you call the role and make a determination of quorum, please? Bless you, Commissioner. Commissioner Keane >> here. >> Commissioner Ortiz >> here. >> Commissioner Chapen
>> here. >> Commissioner Sheen. Commissioner Rose >> here. >> Commissioner Burns >> here. >> Mayor Dyer [clears throat] >> here. >> Mayor, you have a quorum. >> All right. Thank you, madam clerk. Uh, first item business is consideration of minutes from the June 22nd city council
and agenda review meetings. Motion by Commissioner Rose. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Chapen. All in favor indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed? And so the motion carries. Okay. We don't have any awards,
presentations, and recognitions. You know what? I'm I'm going to make this one at a presentation. Um, today we are going to adopt an ordinance to rename Alexander Place George Stewart Place. And it allows us
to celebrate someone who contributed to our city over a number of years. Well-known businessman, community champion, servant, leader, and probably most important inspired his children to have a leg of service as well as his
grandchildren that continues to strengthen our city. Today we have a contingent from the Steuart family here. um one half of the total number of Steuarts who have served on the Orlando City Commission. Um I don't think
there's probably been uh other brothers that have served on the city commission as far as I know. >> I'm the only >> Okay. [laughter] Only ameritus in the family. Uh in any event, um we are thankful that they're here and we have a replica of the George
Stewart Place sign for your family we'd like to present. [applause] >> [applause] >> So, in full disclosure, when Commissioner Stewart was in my office, I asked trans I asked him, uh, does transportation have a timeline? So, in good faith, I would love someone from the transportation department to figure
out when we're going to get these installed. Get close. >> We got think we got >> We do too. [applause] Okay, we had a great budget presentation this morning looking at what this year's
budget is going to be like and also um considering what might happen if the Proposition 3 amendment to our constitution passes. So those are items we're going to be talking about and educating the community on over the course of the next several months, but
we do have a action item for the budget today. And for the 13th consecutive year, we will not be raising the millage rate and we will vote on that this afternoon to maintain it the same amount that it's been for 13 consecutive years.
Um, I want to welcome Orlando Fire Chief Tannon Teamer. Um, as the newly appointed interim fire chief, she will be leading the department. Chief Teamer's experience and commitment to public safety make her wellprepared to lead the men and women
of the Orlando Fire Department. Um, so where is the chief? There she is. [applause] We also want to extend our sincere gratitude to Chief Revolt for his dedicated service many years to the city and wish him the best in his retirement.
The Orlando Fire Department remains a model of public service in our community and I'm proud of the men and women who are committed to serving our residents with integrity, pride, and dedication. Uh I just have a couple things on the agenda that I want to mention. We have
been uh building some playgrounds on um our various parks around town. I think I've cut the ribbon on five or six of them already um all over town. We have three more that are on today's agenda of the 11 that we'll be replacing over the
course of the year and a half. So do Shores is getting ready for an update. Tot Park and Festival Park will also be receiving improvements. So, I look forward to uh reopening those playgrounds. And then as we strive to
attract innovative companies to uh bringing high wage jobs and strengthening our economy, on today's agenda, we have a strive program award to TM TMRW Sports, Inc., which is a sports media technology company, which is evaluating Orlando for its
headquarters. If approved, the performancebased agreement would support the creation of 195 highwage jobs over five years with an average salary of nearly $137,000 and an estimated $1 million capital
investment. So, it continues our commitment to growing Orlando's sports and technology sectors. Uh, and that is all I have for today. We'll move on to the consent agenda, which is a number of items acted upon through a single vote of council. We give each of our commissioners the opportunity to comment
on items on the consent agenda um and give you an update on happenings from their districts. We rotate the order that we do that today. First up is Commissioner Rose. >> Good afternoon everyone again. Um congratulations Chief Shannon Teamer on your recent
appointment. I look forward to continue working together. Um she I want to do a extra special. She is our first female fire chief ever here in the city of Orlando. So that is breaking a huge barrier in our community. So that's a special congratulations. Um
I want to thank OPD, OFD, and the Family Parks and Recreation for hosting 60 minutes to safer swimming across the city. This is an opportunity for our youth to get safety lessons around water and swimming. Um shout out to the Explorer program. They taught my son how
to do CPR. So now he can he might be able to save a life. Um we have a bookshop now here in the Pmore community. It's called Story Room Collective. If you haven't been, it's at the Goblin Studio, 805 West Central Boulevard. There are several um shops inside of Goblin Studio. So check it out
if you're looking for a good bookstore. I want to give a special thank you to Byron Razer and Eric U in business development for working hard in our community to connect businesses with re resources. Recently, I attended the BBIF access to capital and government
contracts event and Byron and the team has been doing a really good job going out in the community giving tips and tricks and helping the businesses to really get on board with our new small business enterprise office. I just want to say thank you. Um, okay. So this is a little bit long.
I'm grateful for our sustainability team. Recently they hosted a green works Orlando community workshop at Ivanhole Park Lagger House. This was an opportunity to have relaxed conversation driven workshop where individuals from the community were able to share their
thoughts on where we are going and heading as a sustainability um learn about upcoming initiatives and help shape the sustainability and resilient future of our city. This is our commitment to hearing from the residents, the communities, the businesses, and I want to give a special
shout out to Mike Taylor and Ashley Perez for the completion of phase one of our energy savings program. I'm proud to report in district 5, the team was able to distribute 15 heat water pumps, 12 portable solar panels with storage
battery, 15 homes have received um window unit, air conditioner, and then uh special c cooktops. This helps collectively save $960 a month throughout the district with a savings of $11,523. This is part of our commitment to
helping more specifically this program is geared towards renters. Um if you've never visited or seen some of our older homes in the community, when a renter is somewhere, they just live where they can afford and sometimes they may not live in the best quality um of of a housing.
And so being able to use resources and collaborate to be to bring the basics of air conditioning in some of these homes is amazing. So special shout out to sustainability Mike Taylor and the team. Um thank you to the Metro West Association for hosting their annual
Booms and Beats event. This is amazing fireworks show. Um Julie Sanchez and her team put on do really hard to put this amazing it's a free firework show July 3rd every year. So put it on your calendar for next year. They make sure they go the day before the city's July 4th fireworks at the fountain.
And then I want to thank city staff for the hard work that was done for our annual fireworks at the fountain show. It was amazing way um and great way to celebrate 250 years of freedom here. There are many community partners who help strengthen our neighborhoods by
providing resources to the residents. I'm grateful for Mission Orlando Church who continues to show up for our Northwest Community Center. This past weekend, we hosted Christmas in July for the residents where we gave out free haircuts, food, household toiletries, and lots of fun for our children. I want
to thank OFD Engine 9 for bringing out the truck for the youth to explore. Um, we had some young people get on and they're probably elementary school and they were talking about I had a young lady said she wanted to be an engineer and I was like, wait, you're like in the third grade and know what an engineer is on a fire truck. So, it's amazing the
community engagement and really making sure we can mold the next generation of firefighters. I also want to thank OPD um District 5's Corporal Dubic um and the Mercy Drive patrol officers, they did come and support. They brought out their vehicles and engaged with the youth in the community. And I would say
I didn't realize how excited when you said when we went on the loudspeaker and said, "Hey, the the police car is open to go check out." Like the families flocked. They even like the I tried to give the officers a break. They were catching some AC and the the families came, "Hey, are you guys opening back up the truck?" So, it's really amazing the
community engagement from OPD and OFD. So, I have another OPD, FPR. So, I want to thank OPD and FPR for bringing balling after dark back to our neighborhood centers. This past Friday, I joined at the downtown rec center and look forward to attending the others in the district. This is an amazing
opportunity to connect with our youth, show them OPD does care, and keep them off the streets. Um, we were even able to connect with a few youth who are looking to join the Orlando Police Department. And I want to special thank you to Captain Jean Gabriel for his commitment to talking to our young
people and walking them through some of the ways and tips and tricks and Chief Smith the trip tips and tricks on um what might be the faster way um to get into OBD starting at the bottom which is 911 dispatch. [clears throat] Um okay change isn't always easy but it's
usually for the betterment. I want to publicly thank the entire FPR team for helping make one of my biggest dreams a reality. Five years ago, when I first ran for city commissioner, one of my core campaign priorities was expanding programming for our middle school students. As a Paramore resident, I have
watched too many of our youth roaming the streets after school with nowhere they could truly call their home. Two years ago, after being elected, uh we took a our first important step in addressing this. I want to give a special shout out to Rodney Williams. Um because like from the minute I said this
is what I'd like to do, Rodney has been right there saying we can make this happen. Let's rework some numbers. So I want to thank Rodney. When I first got elected two years ago, Rodney helped implementing an after after school program so that our middle school students had somewhere to go from 5:30 to 7:30 at a neighborhood centers in
Piermore. Today I'm proud to share another major milestone. When school starts back this August, the Jackson Center will officially become a dedicated space for Paramore's middle school students to learn, grow, build friendships, and simply for our kids to
have a safe and supportive environment. Our elementary students will continue to go to Callahan and call it home. And for those who don't know, the downtown recreation center has become second home to our high school students. Creating spaces that meet our young people where they are isn't just about recreation.
It's about investing in their future. Every child deserves a safe place where they can learn, grow, and discover their potential. And know that the community really believes in them. Stay tuned as we continue protect working to protect, empower, and invest in our youth because they are the future. And they are the
they are the future of our city. Onto the agenda. Um, I look forward to the downtown wayfinding services and wayfinding sign. So, this has been a long time since we did uh DTO 2014. This has been something that was part of the
plan. So, seeing this coming to fruition with the partnership with the sustainability office is going to be really cool as we start really letting people see how to get around downtown. So, we will become like many of the other cities where you're getting off the highway. It'll show we'll show you where parking and all the how to get to
the venues digitally. Um, as mayor mentioned, Ivy Lane Park will get a new playground that has been a long time coming. Thank you to the team for making this happen. Um, so there's one last thing on the agenda
that I want to really highlight and I want to thank someone. So, we are finally going to vote on the joint planning agreement today between the city of Orlando and Orange County. I want to thank publicly Brooke Bonnet who's hiding because she knows I'm going to talk about her. I want to thank
Brook's steadfast commitment. So, when we first talked about this in 2024 and it was making it a reality, here we are in 2026 voting on it. This is our opportunity. Um the city and the county will work together to eliminate enclaves within our city. So, as you know,
there's small pockets within our city that our county. This will allow us to look at those enclaves and extend into the city and really provide timely um infrastructure and service delivery needs in our community. This is part of our commitment to enhancing services for
our community. Um the relationship with the city and county is stronger than it has ever been and we look forward to improving services our residents, businesses and visitors for years to come. That well I thought that was the last this is the
last one. As a former SEIU steward and negotiator, I am glad to see the ratification of the collective bargaining agreement between the city of Orlando and SEIU. This is part of our commitment about of fair and equitable employment here in the city of Orlando. And that's all I have. [clears throat]
>> Commissioner Burns. >> All right. Thank you, Mayor. And uh good afternoon, commissioners, and everyone in attendance. Uh first, I'd like to also congratulate uh Chief Teamer for your appointment as our uh new interim fire chief. A lot has been said about
you being the first uh female to hold that uh hold that role, but also may I want to mention that she's a product of District 6. She grew up in Richmond Heights right right around the corner for me. So one time for all the uh great people that come out of district 6. So we're we're pulling for you and look
forward to working with you. Um, also on June 21st I f 24th I had the opportunity to speak to the uh OPD's team police academy. It was a great experience. I just like to say thank you to District 6 police liaison Corporal Michelle Rogers
and Officer Richard Patterson for their work in coordinating this uh extremely uh well done summer program for our youth. again encouraging them, introducing them to the police department, but also hopefully encouraging them to pursue a um a uh
profession in public safety and more specifically with the police department. On July 1st, I had the uh opportunity to host a Petemont yard community meeting. And this is where we talked about the new development of 75 1 to four
bedroomedroom units uh for the 80% of area medium uh median income. Uh excited about this uh this uh housing development. This is being built on city-owned property uh right over in the Holden Heights area. So, we're looking
forward to that coming up as well. Also like to say thank you to uh Chief Smith. Uh on July 8th we had the district seeks uh chief's meeting was well attended uh and as uh um Smith always does he gives us the information and answers our our
community's questions. So again thank you chief for for continuing to do hold those meetings. Um upcoming events on Sunday July 26 I'll host my district 6 back to school bash. uh food entertainment backpacks while supplies
last. And I'd like to say thank you to OFD Union for uh agreeing to provide the food and the grilling for that event. Uh District 6 satellite office hours will be the are the second and fourth Wednesdays, which which the next one being July 22nd at the Grand Avenue
Neighborhood Center. And that's all I have. Mayor, thank you. >> Um thank you, Commissioner Keane. >> Well, thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, fellow commissioners, everyone. uh here in person and hopefully some of people online today. I'll uh join my fellow
commissioners and uh congratulate Chief Teamer. Um I wasn't going to say this, but since Commissioner Burns brought it up, I think Chief Teamer is a resident of District One. >> Tell everything. >> I'll just I'll just put that.
>> But she she was she was raised and grew up in District. I just wanted to share that with everybody in the room today. >> All of us. Okay. >> All right. Few updates from District 1. Uh along with some of the great work happening, uh that we're doing here in the city. Last week, I had opportunity
to step away from city hall and spend some time in the field with some of the teams that keep Orlando running every day. I joined our solid waste team to see firsthand the work that goes on into collecting our residents trash each week. Um, I should point out that I don't have a CDL, but I was able to
drive our uh uh one of our trash trucks that didn't require one, and that was an experience by itself. Also spent some time with our pothole repair crew. Could not drive that truck. Uh, learning more about their operations, and seeing the dedication and effort these employees uh up close was a great reminder of the
incredible public servants we have here in the city of Orlando. Also had an opportunity to tour the water conservation one. Uh it's a an interesting [clears throat] uh process to see them turn sewage into reclaimed water. Last Thursday, I continued conversations
with the Everbe residents regarding upcoming transportation improvements. We discussed planned traffic improvements on State Route 417 um including the signal lighting there. And we also talked about some uh signal light and timing adjustments on Lee Vista and South Econsection to improve
traffic flow and safety for drivers in District 1. Over the next several weeks, I look forward to spending time with students through our all after after school allstars and speaking to them about public service opportunities in their communities. Investing in the next generation of leaders is one of the most important things we can do here in the
city. Looking ahead, Lake Nona will once again host a annual triathlon which continues to grow into a fantastic community event that highlights the active, vibrant lifestyle that makes District 1 so special. On Saturday, South Orlando Babe Ruth
T-ball All-Star team won the Babe Ruth Regional Championship. The team defeated all-star teams from across southeastern United States. This is an incredible accomplishment for the youngsters and for the team that represents the first regional championship for the South Orlando Bay Ruth. They play out of the Southport uh ball fields. The team of 11
players was led by coaches Justin Massie, Andre Garcia, Raphael Quantero, and Andres Visiml. Finally, I want to remind District 1 residents that Chief Smith will host a second quarter community meeting this Wednesday at Story Park. Uh these meetings are great opportunity for residents to connect
directly with our public safety team and ask questions and stay informed about issues affecting the neighborhoods. On the consent agenda 3C1, the OU utilities, but uh by itself is not that important, but it's just another milestone uh needed that we needed to to
pass to complete the construction of fire station 18. the newest fire station in uh city of Orlando. With that, Mayor Eel. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Ortiz. >> Thank you, Mayor. Congratulations, Chief. Let's make it clear she doesn't
live in my district. So [laughter] maybe >> so uh from June 23rd through June 24th, I participated in the Florida League of Cities fastly in which what we do to Washington DC of course what we do is address legislations that affect our
communities. So, I'm going to bore you with seven of those legislations for a few seconds so you know what we're doing. [snorts] First one, community resilience and disaster preparedness, FEMA. Help cities prepare for disaster before they happen and recover faster afterward. Invest more in disasters.
That's what we're asking for them to do. Make FEMA assistance faster and easier. Reimburse cities quickly after disasters. There are still reimbursement that has not happened after the all the hurricanes we we had. Provide more federal support without increasing cost for local pay taxpayers. Number two,
simplifying local government grants. Make it easier for cities to obtain federal funding. Simplify grants applications. Reduce unnecessary paperwork. Use similar applications process across agencies. Ensure small and medium-siz cities have the same
opportunities as larger cities. There's a lot of small cities that don't have the same opportunities because of the size of the the amount of employees. or not. PAS, which has been a a very controversial issue, forever chemicals, protect public health while helping
cities address water contamination, uh, help fund water testing and cleanup, protect local governments from unfair legal liability, provide resources for public education, prevent more PAS chemicals from entering the environment. Number fourth, National Flood Insurance
Program, NFIP. Keep flood insurance affordable and improve flooded flood protection. Reauthorize the program for the long term. Keep insurance affordable. That's something we're fighting strenuously in in Washington. Improve flood maps. Reward property
owners who reduce flood risks. Number five, infrastructure and transportation. Give cities the resources they need to maintain roads, bridges, sidewalks, and transportation systems. We're asking Congress to increase direct transportation funding for local governments, ensure cities receive a
larger share of federal transportation dollars, continue infrastructure investment, and protect lo local transportation funding from cuts. Number six, uh community development block grants help cities strengthen neighborhoods and expand housing
opportunities. We're asking Congress to increase funding for housing and infrastructure, allow cities flexibility in how funds are used, expand affordable and workforce housing, and support reforms that make it easier to build more housing. And number seven,
municipal tax exempt bonds, keep borrowing affordable for city. We're asking Congress to preserve taxexempt municipal bonds so cities can continue financing important projects like roads, parks, water systems, police stations, and fire stations at lower cost. The
bottom line, Florida League of Cities is asking Congress to give cities the tools, funding, and flexibility they need to prepare for emergencies, improve infrastructure, protect the environment, expand housing, and keep communities safe without placing additional financial burdens on
local taxpayers. That's my report from Washington. All right. Locally, make it quick. the evening of June 25th, I had the pleasure of um attending the graduation ceremony for City Sprout Hydroponics uh youth fellowship program. Congratulations to
the program first cohorts of graduates who completed 15 weeks of hands-on learning focus on hydroponics, sustainable agriculture, and local food systems. I'm especially proud to recognize two district 2 residents from the Anglewood Neighborhood Center who were part of this inaugural class.
dedication and achievement reflect the bright future of the next generation of community leaders. Later later that evening, District 2 neighborhood leaders meeting which brought together residents and community partners for important updates on public safety and summer preparedness. We're pleased to welcome
District 2 welcome Corporal Glattis Husiniano of the Orlando Police Department who share public safety updates and crime trends. Uh on the morning of June 29th, I joined Mayor Buddy Dyier and fellow commissions for the opening of the 1976. I like that
number. Lake Yola like uh time capsule. I was really expecting something really bright coming out of that capsule, mayor. Anyhow, I'm not going to uh but it was interesting to see all the all the u paperwork, all the uh what is it? Newspapers and the yellow pages from way
back then. Most people don't know what I mean the younger generations don't know what that is anymore. Anyhow, opening the time capsule serve as a reminder that our city's history is preserved not only through the places we shared but through the people stories and milestones that have shaped Orlando over
the past 50 years. July 1st I participated in the renaser renaser foundation civic engagement talks where I met with students to discuss the role of government public service and civic engagement. I was it was a pleasure to engage with students
who are eager to learn more about how government works and the many ways they can become active members of their communities. Thank you to Renasur Foundation for investing in the next generation of leaders. July 7th, I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for Southern Fowl in the K4 West district
celebrating the opening of another localowned business in District 2. Congratulations to the owner, Miss Virginia Probed and her team and this exciting milestone. We wish them continued success and look forward to seeing uh Southern File become a greater addition to the Curry for West
community. And I want to thank also the um Mint um Main Street um director Stephanie. On the morning of July 9th, Mayor Dyer and I cut the ribbon of the newly renovated playground at Leroy Hoquest Park. The improvement included
new playground equipment, expanded play areas, shaded structures, and drainage enhancements, creating a safer and more welcoming space for children and families to enjoy. Investments like this help strengthen our neighborhoods and ensure our parks remain accessible and enjoyable for years to come. Thank you,
FPR, for the great great job that you guys are doing uh in modernizing all our parks and keeping them up to date. And finally, on the on the evening of July 9th, the Orlando Police Department hosted District 2 community meeting, providing residents with important
updates on crim crime trends, public safety initiative, and neighborhood concerns. Chief Eric Smith once again answer questions from residents and share information about ongoing efforts to keep our community safe. These meetings continue to strengthen communications, partnership between law
enforcement, and the residents they serve. And for those of you who have not noticed, crime trends has gone down because two reasons. Our chief and police department has stayed very active and very involved um with the community and their communications and our kids
programs are so engaged and so busy that when our kids are done by the end of the day, they go home and they crash. So that's a good thing. That's all I have. Mayor, >> thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Chair. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you other commissioners. Thank you, uh residents
who are here. Uh la last week or two I had an opportunity to visit a couple of community and cultural exhibits in District 3. Uh went out to the Orlando Tennis Center while I was there. I took a tennis lesson uh from Ron who had some
very constructive positive criticism. Um also uh had the opportunity to visit the Manel Museum. Truly one of our cultural gems in Lock Haven Park with their free admission days on the second Sunday of each month. It's a perfect place to stop
by on these hot summer days. Uh week or two ago on Edgewater Drive had a ribbon cutting for the opening of Milliey's Swedish Candy on Edgewater Drive. You should check it out. It was sold out lying around the door. A little bit of a social media phenomenon. That's
Milliey's on Edgewater Drive. So, congratulate District 3 resident Millie D. Martino on opening her store. I'd also like to congratulate the Orlando Dueling Dragons team 1 and two who competed in the Chicago Dragon Boat race at the end of June. Both teams won their
division and I was proud to sponsor that trip. Dueling Dragons is an outstanding program that builds connections between youth, the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Officers through competitive dragon boating. The program has been transformative for many young residents and the team's practice on
Lake Fairview. We are proud to have them here in District 3. Thank you to the Kowanas Club for recently hosting a corn toss for kids tournament to raise money for the program. Uh let's see. This Thursday, July 16th, Orlando Police
Department Chief Smith will host quarterly District 3 community meeting at Ottabon Park K8 Cafeteria. It's a great opportunity to stay informed about activity in the district and meet uh Orlando Police Chief Smith. I too want to congratulate uh Fire Chief
Teamer. She doesn't live in my district. She's not from my district, but I did get to sit next to her a couple weeks ago for about 45 minutes. Thursday, July 30th, 5:00 p.m., I'll attend the Greenworks plan update workshop hosted by the city sustainability department of the College Park Neighborhood Association. Uh I look forward to
attending the annual summer showcase put on by the Family Parks and Recck Department and its 16 neighborhood centers at the Dr. Dr. Phillips Center on July 30th at 7 p.m. The event will highlight performances of local youth in our summer camp programs and provides a
safe space for them to share their talents. Finally, District 3's annual safety splash is happening on Thursday, August 6th at the College Park Neighborhood Association. The event will kick off National Night Out Season. It will be a fun afternoon focused on
having fun while saying staying safe. And for the first time, we're going to add a dunk tank to the annual safety splash. So, I will be one of the volunteers. Obviously, you're not invited, commissioner. Uh, but anybody else is welcome. So, start warming up
your arm for the dunk tape tank. Thank you, Mayor. That's all I've got. >> You got a motion there, Commissioner. >> Uh, move approval of the consent agenda. >> Motion by Commissioner Chap and second by Commissioner Rose. All in favor? So, by saying I.
>> Those opposed. So, the motion carries. Okay. If you were here just for something on the consent agenda or wanting to make your way out, now would be a good time to do that. Okay. Okay, without objection, we are going to recess the city council meeting
and convene the CRA meeting. First item of business is meetings from the advisory board May 27th. Is there a motion to approve those minutes? >> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns. All in favor indicates so by saying I. I. Those
opposed. Motion carries. Second item is CRA meeting minutes from June 8th. >> So move. Okay. Uh motion by Commissioner Burns, second by Commissioner Rose. All in favor indicate so by saying I.
>> I. Those opposed. Motion carries. Okay. 4C. David. >> All right. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor. Good afternoon, commissioners. Uh so 4 C. Um this is a companion item to what was on the consent agenda 3B5. This is amendment one to the contract with BCC Engineering LLC. Commissioner Rose,
you referenced this uh as well in your comments. It's for the uh digital wayfinding services RFQ. Uh so with this, the firm will be moving to full construction documents. Uh the CRA is a party to this contract, though there's no fiscal impact to the CRA in this agreement and I'm happy to address any
questions. >> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns. All in favor indicates so by saying I I opposed. Motion carries. And 4 D. >> Yes. 4 D. Mayor, this is a high wage, highv value uh program agreement uh with
the group you mentioned in your opening comments, TMRW Sports, Inc. Uh so uh they're an exciting company that pairs technology with sports. They partnered with uh both the PGA Tour, the LGBA tour, as well as the NFL to do some truly groundbreaking
activities. They'll be hopefully moving from Winter Park to our very own downtown Orlando, immediately re relocating 70 jobs. Uh in addition to that, they're going to grow $125 more high wage, high-v valueue jobs over the next five years and spend $11 million in
uh making a capital investment in their new space. Uh for that, they qualify for $390,000 in high wage highv value job incentive funds from the CRA. And I'm happy to address any questions. >> Uh I want to make a comment before >> Mr. Rose.
>> Um I want to ensure I'm not sure who's representing for the organization. And I want to ensure as you guys start filling the gap of the additional jobs that we have community engagement to allow residents from the community to apply for the jobs and city residents. So that was it and I move to approve.
>> Motion by Commissioner Rose. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Chapen. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I I those opposed. Motion carries. [clears throat] >> Okay. David, anything else come before the CRA? >> That is all mayor. >> Then without objection we'll stand
adjourned. We're going to convene the neighborhood of the downtown south neighborhood improvement district. All we have is advisory council meeting minutes. Is there a motion to approve those meetings? Motion by Commissioner Chapen, second by Commissioner Rose. All in favor indicates so by saying I. I.
>> Those opposed. Motion carries. Good work. >> Um All right. Without objection, we will adjourn the neighborhood improvement district meeting and we will reconvene the city council meeting. And that brings us to
hearings uh on the J joint planning agreement between the city of Orlando and Orange County. The JPA establishes a cooperative framework and identifies areas where future annexations may occur. The Orange County Charter
requires approval by an affirmative vote of not less than a majority plus one of the entire membership of the Florida County Commissioners unless the city and the county have entered into a JPA. If approved, the JPA will authorize the city to annex eligible properties within the joint planning area in accordance
with the terms of the agreement and law without obtaining separate approval from Orange County. Um, is there a motion? So, >> uh, motion by Commissioner Ortiz, second by Commissioner Rose. Um, I'll open the for hearing. I don't
have any request from the public to speak on this discussion. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed and so the motion carries. Okay, that brings us to ordinances on second reading.
Um, 12A. Madam clerk, >> ordinance number 2026-13, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, relating to a street name change renaming Alexander Place which is depicted and referenced in the plot creative village phase 3
according to the plot thereof as recorded in plot book 109, page two of the public records of Orange County, Florida, generally located between North Huey Avenue and Chatham Avenue to George Stewart Place directing amendments to the official maps of the city of
Orlando, Florida, providing for separability, correction of scrier's errors, and an effective date. >> Second >> motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns. I have no requests for public comment discussion hearing. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I I those
opposed. And so the motion carries. Congratulations. We'll find an appropriate time to put it up and recognize it. [applause] If you guys would like to exit, you don't have to stay for the rest of the meeting.
>> Commissioner Stewart misses us so much. >> Tell George we hope he's having a good time on his cruise. >> Okay, Madam Clerk. 12p. Ordinance number 2026-15, an ordinance of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the land development regulations for a portion of the Fern
Grove to senior housing plan development zoning district, which is generally located north of West Colonial Drive, east of Mercy Drive, south of WD Judge Drive and west of Ferguson Drive and comprised of approximately 9.9 acres of land providing for severability, correction of scrier's errors, permit
disclaimer, and an effective date. >> So move. Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Chap, and I have no request for public comment, discussion. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicates by saying I. I. Those opposed, motion carries. 12 C. Ordinance number
2026-16, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the city's adopted growth management plan to change the future land use map designation for seven parcels of land within the Florida Hospital Health Village DRI, generally located east of
I4, north of East New Hampshire Street, south of Westchester Avenue, and west of North Mills Avenue, and comprised of approximately 2.92 acres, providing for amendment of the city's official future land use maps, providing for servability correction, scrivener's errors, and an
effective date. >> Motion by Commissioner Chapen, second by Keen Ortiz, uh by Commissioner Ortiz. I have no request for public comment, discussion. Hearing none in favor, the motion indicates by saying I. I. Those
opposed motion carries. 12D. Ordinance number 2026-17, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the Florida Hospital health village plan development zoning ordinance to add approximately 2.92 acres of land to the
plan development zoning district. Such land being generally located east of I4, west of North Mills Avenue and south of Westchester Avenue and north of East New Hampshire Street. Amending the development conditions of the plan development, providing a conforming legal description, providing for
separability, correction of scrier's errors, permit disclaimer, and an effective date. >> Motion by Commissioner Chapen, second by Commissioner Ortiz. Again, we have no requests for public comment discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the
motion indicates so by saying I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. E. Madam clerk, >> ordinance number 2026-9, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the city's growth management plan to change the future land use map designation for
certain land generally located west of Aaron Avenue, east of South Ivy Lane, north of Cassie Street, and south of Sepa Street and comprised of 4.2 2 acres of land more or less from public recreation and institutional to residential low intensity providing for amendment of the city's growth management plan providing for
severability corruption of scrier's errors and an effective date. >> Looking down at Commissioner Burns >> I'm not supporting >> that's not the church yet is it? >> Yes. >> Oh, that is it. Okay. Okay. Okay, I'll
make the motion. >> Second. >> Motion by the mayor, second by Commissioner Chapen. We have no request for public comment um discussion hearing. None. All in favor the motion indicates saying I I those opposed.
>> How'd you vote? Commissioner Burns. >> No. >> No. Okay. So is 42. >> 42. Who's the two? Ortiz. >> Okay. 12f. [laughter] >> Okay. >> Madam clerk.
>> Yes, mayor. >> We're ready for 12 up. >> Yep. >> Okay. Ordinance number 2026-20, an ordinance of the city council of city Orlando, Florida, amending the city's adopted growth management plan, future land use element sub area policy
LU.S.2.5 2.5 to increase the residential unit allowance units within the sub area policy boundary south of Oglesby Avenue west of Clay Street north of East Par Street and east of Interstate 4 providing for servability correction of scrier errors and an effective date.
So move [laughter] >> second >> motion by Commissioner Chap and second by Commissioner Burns. I have no request for public comment discussion hearing none. All in favor, the motion indicates so by saying I. >> Mayor, we have one as speaker, Mr.
Samuel Chambers, on item 12F. >> Oh, you right. I thought that he was on 13B. You're right. Sorry about that. Okay. Uh Samuel Chambers. >> Uh hello, Samuel Chambers, 3333 Pelum Road. I'm just commenting today. I
generally think this is a good idea for uh dense development in infill areas because this is in the neighborhood I uh generally live in. Also, I have family at the Calvary Towers address. I just wanted to voice some uh minor concerns
uh that people in my neighborhood have about the development. Mostly it surrounds uh the transportation and roadways. A lot of the roadways in this area are two-lane and if we're not going to widen them, which I don't think we should necessarily. I don't think wider
always makes things better, but um I think there need a lot of people in my neighborhood have traffic concerns, especially around clay in Minnesota. Not to mention, I do believe this is the part of Minnesota that's in the county.
So, if we could uh double check on that, maybe talk to county officials. the part between Clay and Nicollet. Uh many people voiced concerns about flooding. It needs restriping, a number of other
issues. Uh but I just want to make sure that there's been consideration for the fact that this develop if uh these extra units would be placed a little bit north of the Lake
Ivanho uh district main street district that for people living in that that would live in that area there not really a direct way to get down into the main street to go shop or enjoy yourself. Uh
if you were to use the bus route that comes in through uh Minnesota down Clay by Minnesota where the Calvary Towers are, you would have to go over to Winter Park and take a connection either on the Sunrail or the 102 all the way down to
uh either the hospital or bus stop down on Orange Avenue when it's clay is pretty much a straight shot. it just seems inconvenient for a lot of people. Um, so those are really some of the major concerns that I've heard in my
community on top of making sure we protect green space and provide accessibility to the people who already live in Calvary Towers who many of them are elderly and also have differing uh abilities. So that's just what I wanted
to give back, but I do think it's a good use of uh land, too. >> Okay. We appreciate your comments and your thoughts. We'll take those under consideration. That is a weird little area because you have unincorporated Orange County, the city of Winter Park, and the city of Orlando all come
together right there at the corner of Minnesota and Clay. So, we'll take that under consideration though. All right. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries.
>> Okay. 12G. 26-21. >> Ordinance number 2026-21, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, reszoning certain land generally located west of Aaron Avenue, east of South Ivy Lane, north of Casio Street, and south of Sepa Street, and
comprised of 4.2 acres of land more or less from public use to plan development providing preservability, correction, scrimmers errors, permit disclaimer, and an effective date. >> Okay, I will move the ordinance. >> Second. Motion by the mayor, second by Commissioner Chapen. Um I don't have any
requests for public input, discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed? >> No. >> 42. It passes. Okay. Ordinance first reading 13A. Madam.
>> Ordinance number 2026-22. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, reszoning certain land generally located north of West Church Street, east of South Tampa Avenue, south of West Central Boulevard, and east of South Tampa Avenue, comprised of 1.4 acres of land, more or
less from holding to public use, providing for amendment at the city's official zoning maps providing for servability, correction, scrier errors, permanent disclaimer, and an effective date. >> Second motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns.
I do not have any requests for public input discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed. And so the motion carries. >> Okay. 13B. >> Ordinance number 2026-23. An ordinance to the city council of city
of Berland Orlando, Florida, amending and restating the land development regulations of the Cambria suites plan development, formerly known as the Crystal Plan development relating to certain land generally located west of North Rosland Avenue, east of North Magna Magnolia Avenue, south of East Washington Street, and north of Wall
Street and comprised of approximately 0.63 acres of land, providing for amendment of the city's official zoning map, providing for servability, correction, scrier errors, permit disclaimer, and an effective date. Before I make the motion, I'd like to make a comment. >> Sure.
>> Um, so I have met with several of the property owners in the surrounding areas and I have met with the developer and I want to make it clear the preservation of historic buildings in our community is a priority. How construction takes place, not only does the city of Orlando
regulate, so does the state and the federal government regulates ensuring that new construction does not negatively impact the surrounding buildings. and if they are impacted, it is the developer and builder's responsibility to address those needs. I want to make that clear that is also in
the MPB minutes that we voted on, but I want to put it on the record that the developer and the builder, they are very well aware that they must do their due diligence of ser working with the neighbor and and the Orthodox church, Father John, they must work with you to
come out, look at your property, surveillance the property, and ensure that no damage is done. And if there is, so this is something that I want you all as property owners to work through, but it is in our it is in the minutes from the MPB, the municipal planning board
meeting. I'm making sure I put it on the record today at council meeting. The builder, the developer are very well aware. So I want to give you give the church some sense of relief that it is our responsibility to protect the surrounding buildings and ensure that construction does not disrupt as we
start going through the process. um the developer and I have discussed what does lay down look like that is for him and his team to figure out and again work with the community to make sure the least disruption is possible. Um one of the things I want to note from the project it the where the pool ends in
this development is exactly where the previous approved development was. So when we talk about height and height difference I want to commend the developer for ensuring that the height on the building is not adjacent to the church. So, it's on the opposite side closer to the Washington where the pool
deck ends is exactly where the previous approved building that the surrounding neighborhood was a part of. I apologize and I want to say like I want us to make sure we work together as a community. Um, this is a a a catalystic project for
not just downtown but for the city of Orlando. This is something that a lot of people have explored and just so people know all around this city developers have explored how do you make this possible where you have a condo hotel um living space. So this will be a one of
its kind not just in downtown but a catalystic project for the city of Orlando as we start talking about ownership piece and what that looks like having a stake in owning in the community that you live in. So, I just want to make it clear like I want to put on the record, Father John. Um, I want you and the developer and the builder
and the property owner to work through some of the logistics that we have emailed back and forth, transparency as far as monitoring devices, etc. But as discussed, I give you my commitment, the city's commitment. We will monitor, we will work together through this project to make sure there is not disruption
from the church and any disruption we will work through. So, I just want to make that I want to put that on the record because I know that there's several members here from the church. It's my commitment to facilitate the concerns and figure out how do we get to a middle ground. Um, some people just hate development. That's not where we're
in. We're growing downtown and what that looks like. This is a true innovative project for our city and I just want to put that on the record. So, thank you. And I move to approve. >> Motion by Commissioner Rose. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Burns. Okay. We
do have a number of requests from the public to speak on this. It looks like one, two, three, four, five are in opposition and then Mr. Surl is in support representing the proponent. So I think what I'll do is take the five that
are on the other side of this and then Mr. Surl will have you be able to respond if necessary to that. Okay, first up is Isaac Amadoy. >> Yes, close. Once again, thank you. Isaac
Abdel Messiah, 486 Dogwood Court, Altoont Springs, 32714. Mayor Dyer, city commissioners, good afternoon. I am once again before you, and I know what the direction of the board will go, but I'm still going to share my comments. Once again come before you in opposition to the planned
development of the 37 foot highrise at the corner of North Rosland Avenue and North Magnolia Street. I speak for myself on this as a parishioner of our church. As I stated at the last city commission meeting in June, I am a member of our church which sits just next door to the property we are talking about today. And I'm concerned for the
well-being of the 100-year-old church I have been a parishioner of for my entire life. The massive size of the planned construction of this building and what it could do to the fragile status of the church is what concerns me. While I am not against development, and I'll repeat that again, I'm not against development,
I do highly believe that the planned development of this building is a reflection of this developer's desire to cram a New York City-like skyscraper into less than an acre of land just for profit. Ask yourself, how could young adults like myself possibly afford to live or stay in this building based on
how challenging it is to pay rent today? Is this really what Orlando wants to be known for? High rent, unaffordable housing, and unbridled growth. While I do think this ordinance will pass regardless of what any of us say, I urge you, as Commissioner said, Commissioner
Rose said, to facilitate the good peace between both parties. Help us by holding the developer accountable for damage they may, God forbid, cause to our church. How do we do this? By setting up monitors to detect any kind of damage our 100-year-old church may suffer because of the perplexed project. I
emailed you all earlier this week asking you to consider the future of our church when it came to discussing this project. And I want to thank you, Commissioner Rose, for your lengthy response in explaining the process of setting up the monitoring vibration centers, sensors, and motion survey points in our church
to detect vibrations that could cause possible damage from construction taking place next door. I hope that this commission ensures the developers work with us at our parish to do just that because we are ready to work. This means putting everything in writing because written word is stronger than just
verbal communication. As I have said before, the developer has the right to do all he has done up to this point. But I will say it is a little odd coming from someone who has run for county commission and seminal before that this project was green lit so quickly as the developer of this project used to chair
the municipal planning board of this city and seems to have an overwhelmingly strong relationship with the city's planning director, the person who leads the city planning division in managing urban growth, zoning, and land development. I'm not trying to undermine staff, but it seemed a little
unprofessional and crooked when this project was first heard by the appearance review board, which most of our parishioners were at that meeting. So, I thank you for your time and may God bless you and the future of our church and this city. Thank you. Okay. Natalie Zenapantos.
>> Hi, my name is Natalie Senopantos. I Hi, my name is Natalie Senopantos. I live at 11201 Purple Plum Court, Orlando, Florida 32821. Uh good afternoon, mayor, council members, and members of the community.
Thank you for your time, effort, and dedication you give to serving Orlando. As a graduate student in public policy and aspiring leader, I gained a deep respect for the responsibility of the city leadership. I encourage our leaders to be exemplary role models by
preserving Orlando, not only for monetary gain, but for the people, history, and character that make the city home. First, I want to address the structural concerns surrounding the proposed development on 170 East Washington Street. I have prepared a
packet with articles that highlight the impacts of deep excavation, vibration, foundation impacts, and construction activity so close to historic structures. My intent is not to impose impose development but to ask due
diligence especially with lake especially within the Lake Eola Heights Historic District Orlando's first historic district and ask that city the city requires strong structural reviews monitoring and safeguards before allowing a project of this scale to move
forward. Secondly, I ask that the council consider the moral and ethical concerns development in the downtown historic district raises serious concerns about fairness, transparency, and public trust. Many property owners have invested significant resources to comply with historic preservation
requirements. The National Registry of Historic Preservation and National Preservation Historic Act reflect the importance of identifying and protecting the places worthy of preservation for future generations. St. George Orthodox Church sits adjacent to the proposed lot
for development and is one of the historic buildings that shapes so shaped so many lives in Orlando, including my own. It would be deeply concerning if those same protections were weakened in a way that places historic buildings and
neighborhoods at risk. I close with a sincere love for my community and for St. George Orthodox Church and with a respectful request that this council continue to protect Orlando's historic character. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much, Father John.
[clears throat] >> My name is Father John Hatti, 24 North Rosland Avenue, Orlando, Florida. I use that as my it is not where I live, but it's where my life lives. St. St. George Church in in addition to its historic significance is a very
vibrant part of downtown for 11 and a half years when no other church would step up. This church fed homeless people behind the church 7 days a week. And I mentioned that because one time when someone complained from the library, I said, you know, we're really doing you a favor. Of course, if we don't feed
people, they will turn to crime. And thank the good Lord that went down because of what we were doing. We do daily counseling, especially for troubled youth. I get calls all day long. I bring that up because the church should not just be a place where people go pray, but it should be a helping
portion of the community. We truly welcome all. If you look at the people here that are representing the church, you see a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi- e um religious background. I'm very happy about that because the church should be open to everybody. And I
really think that that happens. This is our goal, not to talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Our city logo, as you know, if you look at it, shows the fountain at Lake Eola. I remember that fountain 50 years ago. The point is that when people come to Orlando, whether it's the airport or wherever it is, they
look to see something about Orlando. They're looking at Lake Eola. People come and go. Developments come and go. We're here to stay. The church is a stately standing vibrant time capsule. You mentioned before
commissioner about opening that time capsule and how interesting it was that time capsule lives on Rosland and Wall Street. We address concerns the commissioners on vibrating damage. It goes beyond that because the protection of the church is something that is not
just putting monitors there. But I went to law school and I like things in writing. I'm not looking just for a written commitment, Commissioner Rose, that they'll do this, that they do do that. If you pass the ordinance, I would like it and I hope that you will put it
in the ordinance. Whether it be this developer or someone that comes in in the future, they have to address these concerns and needs of the church. It runs with the land. It doesn't just run with this particular developer because developers come and go. They could
tomorrow if they get the ordinance passed the zoning turn it over to somebody else. But as long as they know that they have to address that that that's what the city council has required then we have a chance of preserving part of Orlando's heritage.
Thank you all. God bless. And so, Father John, I just want to hold on, Mayor. I just want to say, Father John, it is in the MPB notes. It is a requirement, a geotechnical requirement. And then I did put it on the record today, but it is in black and white. Like, it's an actual bullet point that follows this this
individual approval for this building. It is in black and white that says that they must work through through geotechnical with you. >> I just want to you said about the pool that was on top of an eightstory building that was approved years ago. Okay, we're going on after eight floors,
we're going another 29 floors. So that's that's not the same thing. Just to bring that point. Okay. Thank you. >> Commissioner Keane, did you have something? >> I just wanted to uh thank both the uh the developers representative and Father John for coming by my office and seeing me and talking about these very
important issues. And I certainly uh I'll be voting for approval of this, but I I share uh both of your concerns about the foundation work and we want to make sure that we we follow that very closely. Um but I I do think that the project is important for us and I I do
believe that it brings extra housing uh to our city and I think that's important as well. Thank you, mayor. >> Okay, anybody else? Got a couple more. Uh, Tamar Bright Garden. >> Hello. Um, I actually, this is my first
time doing something like this. >> Just take a deep breath. Tell us your name and your address. >> Tamar breakart homeless. And I'm glad for Father John for being a part of my life and for welcoming me into the
church because literally the church has actually broadened my uh existence of knowing that like I'm important even though I'm homeless. I'm
homeless because basically of prior reasons. don't want to go there. But anyways, for the fact that he brought me into his church and welcomed me like he did,
that church is a home to me. And it would actually hurt me that if that church got hurt by this construction, it would actually devastate me as a
person because literally for the fact that it's a home for the homeless, of course, and he's welcoming the part and trying to drove the homeless out of from the
homeless and to be home placed in homes as basically I'm very very gracious for that because some time he probably will
help me out with that which I'm very grateful for and I'm very grateful for the home that I have with George Orthodox Church. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Okay, Lenora Snow.
Hello. Um, my name is Lenora Snow. My mailing address is 24 North Roslin Avenue and I have been with Father John's Church since 2008. Um, Commissioner Ortiz, you brought up the
time capsule and uh, I think that's wonderful, but there's something else that happened in 1976 and maybe it's in the paper, but the library was expanding and the city had um, plans to come across Wall Street and
the church wasn't even considered at that point. But we ended up on the National Registry, the historical society, and the library ended up moving up Wall Street to Magnolia. So, Wall Street was saved and the church was
saved. Uh, I just want to bring up one thing, uh, which is the stories that I've heard. I've been in the church all these years myself, so I know a lot, but I wasn't there in 76. But when they expanded the library, they
also put up floors. And the library is five stories, I think. And the thing is, um, when they were constructing it, the chandeliers in our church swayed and
that was with five stories. So to think of a 37story building going up when the effect of a fivestory building affected the church, I think it's something that you need to consider. Um the building's a 100red years old. Uh
last week uh just out of the blue, a piece of ceiling fell because it was old and it was dry and it fell. But we're constantly fixing the church. We're constantly dealing with plumbing, electrical, a lot
of different things because the building is so old and it has been such a great part of Lake Eola. And just the idea that it could be harmed is what really concerns me. And thank you, Commissioner Rose,
for how you have put everything, like you said, in black and white. But I think these people should really understand the fragility of the church. That was 50 years ago where the chandeliers were rocking.
What's going to happen 50 years later when we're going to be dealing with all these vibrations and things like that? So I just think it was something you guys should consider. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jason Surl.
Good afternoon. >> Hold on, Jason. Um, Commissioner Chapen, >> sorry, I didn't mean to be out of order, but I I too wanted to thank Father John uh for our discussion a few days ago. And you talked about damage or monetary damage, and he made
the point that there is no such thing as monetary damage to a church like that if it is damaged. So, you were very reasonable in not being against the development, but wanting to have a method to measure in real time what was occurring next door. So, I'm I'm hoping
that developer might address that beyond or at least expand upon uh what Commissioner Rose said about the MPB minutes or maybe there's a way to strengthen it even further. >> All right, Mr. Shir, >> thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mayor, commissioners. appreciate the
opportunity to be with you today. Um, address is Mayor Nexon 200 East New England offices in Winter Park. Agree very much with Commissioner Rose's sentiments. Thank you for your leadership on this project and your words at the outset. Uh, we too take
very seriously uh both the on-site and any potentially offsite impacts this project may bring, which is an exciting and potentially landmark uh property to the downtown central business district. And just I wanted to also thank the five speakers, especially Father John, whom I
consider a friend and a longtime colleague. He and I have worked uh on this project through its several iterations over a number of years. So I appreciate very much and respect his words and his insight here. Uh if I may, just a couple points to underscore some of the concepts that have been discussed
through the public comment. First, in our ordinance, prior to the issuance of any building permit for the property, our our client, the owner of the property must shall provide at its sole expense a professional and certified
structural inspection report for the immediately adjacent property. Goes on to state in the same condition to facilitate compliance. The applicant, which is us, shall conduct a meeting with the church prior to initiating the structural inspection of the church to make sure that there's a full
understanding of how the inspection will be accomplished, what the report will entail, and how its findings will be used at a later date, as was addressed by the fifth and final speaker. It's in our best interest to create a benchmark for what the church's status is today
prior to construction. Moreover, the very first staff report condition, and this was touched on in general in in Commissioners Rose's intro, is uh the very primary of over 30 um conditions of approval that we have on the
recommendation we got from MPB. We also previously got the recommendation for approval from ARB. It's quote, "To help reduce construction related vibrations and avoid damage to adjacent buildings, an appropriate construction methodology must be used to install deep foundation pilings and lay underground utilities
subject to review by city architects." So just as Commissioner Rose stated, all levels of city staff, Florida building code, all other applicable jurisdictions, including the property owner's own risk analysis, its lenders, its insured, its builders, everybody
will have input and do this in a way that is fully compliant. I appreciated and in closing, I appreciated in response to my emailing the father after the MPB discussion we had outside chambers, he called me on Wednesday, that would be been the 8th. And on
Thursday the 9th, the day after after I had a chance to talk with the ownership and management group, I let him know by email. It is typical industry practice, the developer of a new building will enter into an access agreement with neighboring properties which allow us to enter the facilities for the
purpose of installing and monitoring vibration sensors and motion survey points. This >> Jason, I'm going to give you a little extra time so you don't have to rush. So, >> thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I was I almost hit it I almost hit it right on the head. This, as you can imagine, is dependent
upon, and we've touched upon it, this continuing relationship and the church's cooperation in the natural course of this project progressing in the city's process. City staff has done a wonderful job of guiding us in the ordinance requirements and the staff conditions of approval to continue this dialogue. We
can represent here before you today. We will do everything that we can in our power to continue to do this in the way that is most compliant. What's getting lost in all this is a wonderful exciting project for downtown Orlando that will bring a first of its kind use. Um I
don't want to lose the forest for the trees. I'd be happy to answer any questions on that, but I I hope I addressed some of the comments that came up during the public portion. Thank you. Okay. I appreciate the fact that so much dialogue has gone on between the development team and the church already.
A lot of times we come to this point and there has been no discussion between the applicant and those who are opposing. So I think everybody comes with goodwill and purpose and I deeply appreciate that. >> Thank you mayor. >> Okay discussion. Commissioner Ortiz.
>> Thank you mayor. I just I'm not going to add too much, but I remember back in the days, this is a little analogy here, when uh we were getting rid of the old arena and everybody was so opposed to building the new center, the KIA center,
and um there was all kinds of opposition and once it was built, everybody was really excited. Sometimes we're so afraid of what's new and we don't know about, you know, until things do happen. And of course there's nobody here that can predict the future but I know the
know the gentleman's on both sides that are involved on this. I think the sense of responsibility and and u what we owe to the not only to the public but to ourselves and to each other. I think there's great deal of commitment on this one. So I think it's going to be a good project. I believe it's going to be
something everybody's going to enjoy and I hope a lot of those people living in there comes to the church. So with that being said, thank you guys. Further discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. Those
opposed. So the motion carries. All right. That concludes the scheduled business for today. Um we do have general appearance. Ed could get us prepared for general appearance. [music] >> [music] [music]