Fearing what changes may come with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to eliminate property taxes, Kissimmee is looking to launch a public awareness campaign to educate residents on their key role in city finances.
“People say it’s political suicide if you say ‘Lets continue charging taxes’ when the state is asking us, or the governor, to remove them,” Mayor Jackie Espinosa said at a commission meeting on Wednesday evening. “But the reality is, how do we fund things?”
At the center of the debate is the tax that funds vital city services like public schools, storm water, police and fire departments.
DeSantis and CFO Blaise Ingoglia have argued county and city budgets have unfairly benefitted from recent surges in property values statewide. DeSantis has proposed a 2026 referendum to eliminate property taxes all together.
That worries Kissimmee officials, who want to counter the governor’s push by sharing information with the public on the key services paid for with property taxes.
At least 10 Central Florida cities and counties signaled this summer they may increase the rate they levy on property owners, despite ballooning budgets and DeSantis’ arguments against the taxes. Seminole County commissioners approved raising their rate for the first time in 16 years in July, citing soaring insurance costs, persistent inflation, state financial mandates and expanding mass transit services.
They cited a host of reasons, including the need to pay higher police and fire salaries, increased costs of insurance and construction materials, and the expense of unfunded mandates from state and federal governments.
Kissimmee, though, adopted a tentative $310 million budget on Wednesday that is roughly $11 million smaller than the previous year.
The commission also adopted a tentative millage rate of 4.6, a figure that has not changed for 17 consecutive years. Property owners will be charged roughly $4.60 per $1000 of their assessed property values.
But even with flat rates, many property owners may still pay more this year as property values have increased regionwide.
In Kissimmee, city manager Mike Steigerwald said increased property values have fueled the 11.2% growth in revenues the city collected in property taxes. That mirrors a trend across the region.
But other sources of revenue for the city have not seen the same growth.
“We’ve seen a pretty dramatic slowdown in projected utility revenues as well as state funding sales taxes and gas taxes as well,” Steigerwald said.
City staff is beginning to explore options for a public education campaign to ensure residents better understand what their property taxes support, spokeswoman Alibeth Suarez said in an email.
In their discussion, commissioners and city staff suggested releasing a packet of information to residents in conjunction with the League of Cities and urged residents to call state legislators to show their disapproval of eliminating property taxes.
“They need to be advocating for us,” Commissioner Angela Eady said of state lawmakers. “If we’re not supportive of that, then they need to not be supportive of it as well. Because remember now, they work for us.”
Kissimmee resident, Jeremy Fetzer supported the commission’s plans in light of the ongoing conversations in Tallahassee.
“I think it’s more important than ever to explain to the public exactly how important these general fund dollars are,” Fetzer said. “And exactly why eliminating them will cause severe public harm and really could cause public safety issues and cause deaths when it comes to longer response times for fire and police services.”
The tentative budget includes 942 full and part time positions, a new mobile command center, and two long awaited demolition projects that will transform the city’s center. One such project is at the former Big Lots/Kmart site off Vine Street that aims to reimagine the forgotten plaza into a mix of apartment and retail space. The other project is at the Civic Center that is set to bring downtown its first hotel.
The second and final hearing for the budget will be held at the city’s next meeting on Sept. 16.
