TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – As state lawmakers return to Tallahassee to hash out a new budget plan, a long-time city of Orlando commissioner has a warning about financial challenges that could lie ahead.
Commissioner Robert Stuart has announced he will not seek re-election this fall after two decades in office, but is concerned about the impacts federal and state lawmakers could have on local budgets.
“I’m not real comfortable with the national outlook. It could have an impact on the City of Orlando in terms of federal grants that we get for police and fire and for development. It could be a 30 or 40 or 50 million dollar impact,” Stuart said
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Orlando’s General Fund budget is $708.5 million, with about $400 million coming from property and sales taxes. The cost for police and fire alone is approximately $380 million.
“If you cut sales tax in the state by just three quarters of a cent, it impacts Orlando’s general budget by about $14 million dollars. $14 million, in real terms, is about 150 cops on the street. There will come a time when cities will say, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t do it anymore,’” warned Stuart. “You have two choices. We’ve got to find another revenue stream or we’re going to have to tax you more. What do you want? ‘I don’t want more taxes,’ people say. Okay, but now we’re at an impasse.”
During Stuart’s tenure, the city’s police force has grown from about 350 uniformed officers to more than 1,023 sworn officers, while the number of firefighters has tripled from about 200 to 569.
Stuart expressed frustration with the limitations state lawmakers have placed on cities.
“They put cities in a position that the only way the cities can create revenue without increasing taxes is to expand the city, to annex. And now they’ve come back and said, ‘well, you can’t annex anymore.’ Well, what do you want us to do? Then let’s just declare we’re never going to give anybody a raise ever again and you just declare that there’s going to be no cost-of-living increases under any circumstances. I’m happy with that, but that’s not how the real life works,” said Stuart.
As Stuart’s term comes to an end in January 2026, at least five candidates have already filed to run for his seat. When asked what sort of person is needed to meet these challenges, he quickly responded, “a moderate.”