ORLANDO, Fla. – Property owners in the City of Orlando may soon see a hike on their property tax bill.
The city is proposing increasing stormwater fees by at least 50% over the next four years. It’s the first time the city has raised stormwater fees since 2008.
The fees are based on the size of your lot, not your house, and how much of your land is covered by rooftops, driveways, patios and more.
Smaller parcels could see about a 50% increase from $83.94 a year now to nearly $127.45 by 2028.
Larger properties could see about a 130% increase from $137.85 a year to $318.62 a year.
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The hikes would boost the city’s stormwater fee revenue from about $30 million to $59.9 million by 2028.
“Sometimes you’re dealing with a lot of mud, sand, trash. It can get nasty,” said Terry Farmer, who has worked with the City of Orlando’s Public Works department for 18 years.
Farmer leads one of three crews that vacuum some 50,000 stormwater drains year-round.
“Oh you (find) a little bit of everything: plastic, leaves, sticks, bottles, all types of trash,” said Farmer.
Orlando’s Public Works Director Corey Knight says the fee hikes are needed to fund that maintenance, improve water quality in lakes and to replace older, smaller pipes.
“We had a historic flooding event in (Hurricane) Ian. We’re starting to see more and more intense rainfalls that are causing spot problems throughout the city,” said Knight.
The city will hold its final community meeting on the proposed hikes on Wednesday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. at Orlando City Hall.
The city council will take a final vote on the proposed increases on Monday, May 13.
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