From building a community park to adding more space at the cramped animal shelter, Seminole County has unveiled a wish list of projects to be paid for by tapping into $250 million in sales tax revenue it expects to collect over the next decade.
“It’s great that we have this opportunity — that our citizens have trusted us with these additional funds — so that we can do some of these really important projects for the community,” Commissioner Amy Lockhart said at Tuesday’s commission meeting. “I’m excited.”
Seminole voters last year overwhelmingly approved raising the state sales tax in the county by one penny up to 7 cents on the dollar for the next 10 years. That extra penny is expected to bring in roughly $650 million by the end of 2034. The funds can be used for improvements to roads, flood prevention, trails, sidewalks, bridges and traffic devices.
Funds also can pay for infrastructure improvements at parks and other county properties. Seminole officials said they plan to use just over a third of that total amount of the sales tax revenue for those types of projects.
At Tuesday’s commission meeting, Seminole staff presented six long-planned projects.
Those include: expanding and upgrading Seminole’s animal services campus and building a new multi-story county administration building at the Five Points Complex in Sanford; adding trails, a fishing pier and other amenities to Rolling Hills Community Park near Altamonte Springs; building a new community center at the old Rosenwald School in the historic Black community of East Altamonte; constructing a new medical examiner’s facility; and renovating the old WB Equestrian Center near Lake Mary into an athletic facility with county offices.
Officials said the costs of the projects, which ones would be prioritized, and completion times would be worked out by the commission in the coming months.
When pressed, Assistant County Manager Kristian Swenson gave a rough total estimate between $210 million and $214 million.
“We just want to get started on these things,” Swenson said. “Not necessarily create the budgets yet, but establish them as legitimate projects in the budget and begin the administrative process. ….But I think the time line is the next three or four years.”
Commission Chair Jay Zembower said he’s looking forward to seeing more details.
“This is a good appetizer, if you will, of where we will ultimately end up,” he said.
Still, commissioners warned they lack the appetite to allow the county to take on debt to pay for them.
“Borrowing money to move these projects forward, I would not be interested in that,” Commissioner Bob Dallari said. “We haven’t done that in the past. I don’t see that as a starter.”
If the county borrowed $250 million, for example, it would immediately receive $210 million but then have to pay $25 million annually over 10 years toward the debt with an added $40 million in interest.
“In this situation, in these circumstances, debt doesn’t make sense,” Lockhart said. “The math doesn’t work to do that. There are some projects, and some times, when debt does make sense, and I think this isn’t one of those times right now to contemplate that.”
Even though the Seminole Commission will ultimately choose its priorities among the projects, county staff said they are all important.
Alan Harris, Seminole’s emergency management director who oversees the animal services department, said the shelter at the Five Points Complex is outdated and often 50% over capacity, with an average of 230 dogs and cats daily. Seminole often teams with outside shelters for extra boarding space.
“We double up on animals, as much as we can,” Harris said, describing the kennels. “It’s a struggle.”
Seminole County Animal Services kennels in Sanford, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Seminole has long planned to build a new multi-story county administration building — estimated to cost upwards of $80 million — at the south end of the sprawling Five Points Complex, off U.S. Highway 17-92, where the Sheriff’s Office, courthouses and other county buildings sit.
The new building would house county staff, commission chambers, and include the Property Appraiser’s office. Those are all currently in an old hospital building in downtown Sanford.
In 2018, Seminole purchased the shuttered Rolling Hills Golf Club property with plans to build a large community park and prevent the nearly 100 acres near Altamonte Springs from being turned into houses.
The empty land is currently a vast grassy area. But the county plans to add trails, a fishing pier and other amenities to turn it into a regional park. Commissioners are scheduled to discuss plans and costs on Nov. 18.
Last year, Seminole announced plans to build a community center on 12 acres where the shuttered Rosenwald School stood at the center of the historic Black community of East Altamonte.
Crews have so far demolished many of the existing school buildings, built in 1959 and 1960 during segregation. Plans are underway to construct a community building with multipurpose rooms, classrooms, offices and meeting areas.
7/11/00-Rosenwald Center, part of the Seminole County School system. ORG XMIT: DIGITAL
Seminole also has plans to build a medical examiner facility. Since 2018, the county has been part of the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office — which includes Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties — after ending a similar agreement with Volusia County.
Last January, Seminole said it would leave District 5 in 2029 and build its own medical examiner facility that could include Lake County. Officials said those plans are preliminary and could not provide further details.
In April, Seminole purchased the WB Equestrian Facility of nearly 45 acres near Sylvan Lake Park for nearly $9.6 million to protect the land from development and eventually add more athletic fields to an adjacent popular sports complex.
The property includes a nearly 13,000-square-foot building that housed horses that Seminole plans to use for staff offices and hold activities.
“It’s good to know we’re thinking ahead,” Commissioner Lee Constantine said about the list of projects. “This is something that I’m looking forward to getting in depth as to specifics on exactly what we’re going to do with each one.”
