Orlando City Council members approved a millage increase of nearly 18 percent Monday, which will begin in October.
The hike will raise more money for the city to operate.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said commissioners held the line on taxes during the recession since 2001, only raising taxes once. But with an increasing deficit, Dyer said Monday’s vote to increase the millage by 17.7 percent had to happen.
“We didn’t want to raise taxes while people were hurting the most, but we have to run a government,” explained Dyer.
According to the mayor, the city collected about $35 million less than what was collected in 2009. In 2007, when property values were at their height, they were under state imposed property tax caps and couldn’t make an increase then.
“When the valuations went down, we bore the whole brunt of the decrease in valuations," Dyer said. "But now that they’ve gone back up, let’s say in a given year they go back up by 10 percent, we can only recapture a smaller percentage of that.”
Opponents like Victor Vermillion think the city is just spending too much money.
“I think they’ve got to run it like a business," Vermillion said. "And I don’t think they’re doing it. I think they’re conceding, especially to the unions and so forth…fire and police, unions…all due respect to those who work in those departments.”
But Dyer said cuts have been made every year for the past few years and that now is the time to prevent anything further from being cut.
What will the tax increase look like for homeowners?
“For $200,000, that would be a $200 increase for that $200,000 valuation,” explained Orlando’s Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Sutton.
Dyer said he’s confident this move will not warrant another increase next year and residents shouldn’t confuse the construction of new venues with the city’s budget because a different fund is used.