ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Review Committee voted Monday to place an amendment on the November ballot that would expand the number of county districts from six to eight.

At Monday’s meeting, many community members gave their input on what they would like to see done.

“I think when all of the voices in our community are represented, we tend to do better and make better decisions for our county,” Samuel Vilchez Santiago, an Orange County resident said. 

Gregg Jones disagrees. He said at the moment the government isn’t efficient.

He would much rather see the commission stay at six members and address the current needs of the county.

“The more the government grows, the less efficient it is because what happens then is everyone relies on other people to do the work instead of them being held accountable by constituents and making sure they do their job,” Jones said. 

Earlier this month, county officials say the county has seen extensive population growth since 1988.

The number of residents has jumped from 621,000 people to 1.5 million people.

Adding more commissioners and districts, the county said, would reduce the average per district population to 187,000.

Ultimately, this will be in the hands of the voters.

In June, the commission will meet to determine the ballot language that Orange County voters will see.

If passed in November, there would be eight county commission districts in time for the 2026 general election.

The price tag for adding two new commission districts would also be expensive. The $2,400,000 price tag would include elections costs, redistricting advisory committee costs and adding two new commissioners’ offices.