MAITLAND, Fla. — Sunday was the final day to vote early in Tuesday’s Presidential Preference Primary for residents in Orange and Osceola counties, but Tuesday’s election also comes with several municipal elections and ballot measures depending on where you live.

What You Need To Know

  • Not only does Tuesday’s election decide on the presidential preference for this year, it also comes with several municipal elections and ballot measures depending on where you live

  • In Maitland, voters will decide if they support a referendum to build a new library

  • City officials said while the total construction of a new library would cost around $18.7 million, the city would use about $5 million that they already have allocated for the project

  • If you did not vote early or by mail, your last opportunity to vote is this Tuesday

  • PREVIOUS: Residents divided over Maitland Library referendum

Today was the final day to vote early in Tuesday’s Presidential Preference Primary for residents in Orange and Osceola counties, but Tuesday’s election also comes with several municipal elections and ballot measures depending on where you live.

In Maitland, voters will decide if they support a referendum to build a new library.

Bryan Stewart, who has four children, says he visits the Maitland library often. Stewart said for him and his family, the current historic library is no longer functional.

“This is a nice space, but it’s a very small and cramped space, and of course, it’s not really the proper venue to do children’s programming, so the reality is that we’re very limited with what we can do with the children’s center that’s here,” said Stewart, Vote for Maitland’s Library Chairman.

That’s the reason the City of Maitland is asking taxpayers to fund a new one.

City officials say the original library is over 100 years old and needs major repairs.

A referendum question on Tuesday’s ballot will ask residents to fund the construction of a two-story, 20,000 square foot library in Quinn Strong Park.

The project would need approved $14 million in public bond financing, a price Maitland homeowners would have to pay over the course of 20 years. It’s something Stewart justified as an expense he is willing to pay.

“An average Maitland homeowner will wind up paying anywhere from several to 10 dollars a month extra on their property taxes and if you own Maitland property, you know your property values go up in a town like this, especially because of the cultural assets we have, so this is an immediate return on investment for a homeowner,” said Stewart.  

The cost of the project, along with other concerns, has been at the forefront of Maitland residents’ minds.

Some residents who live on fixed incomes worry about affording the added expense.

Other concerns include the location of where the new library would be built and having to redevelop Maitland’s existing senior center.

Maitland’s mayor says depending on what residents vote on, they’ll make the necessary adjustments.

“That’s the thing — people really need to make a reasoned decision about the future here, and I think if you sit down, and you look at the uses and you look at the numbers, this makes the most sense for us,” said City of Maitland Mayor John Lowndes. “If people decide this is not the way they’d like to do it, we really will just have to live within the current library that we have.”

City officials said while the total construction of a new library would cost around $18.7 million, the city would use about $5 million that they already have allocated for the project.

If voters pass this referendum, on average, a taxpayer could be paying around $100 to $200 every year depending on home property value.

If you did not vote early or by mail, your last opportunity to vote is this Tuesday.