Amy Mercado wins Orange County property appraiser race

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – UPDATE: Amy Mercado was declared the winner of Tuesday’s primary with 59.7% of the vote.

Original story below:

Three Democrats are running in the primary election seeking to be Orange County’s property appraiser.

The three people vying for office are State Rep. Amy Mercado, businessman Khalid Muneer and incumbent appraiser Rick Singh. The winner of the primary could face write-in candidates in the November election.

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It’s important that voters participate in the primary because, according to Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles, the results of the August election, for some races, determine what voters can expect to see in the general election come November.

“If a person does move on to the general, it is very, very likely they are going to win big in the general election,” Cowles said.

[2020 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of Florida’s primary election]

The county property appraiser is responsible for identifying, locating and fairly valuing all property within the county for tax purposes. The property appraiser also tracks ownership changes, maintains maps of parcel boundaries, keeps descriptions of buildings and property characteristics up to date, accepts and approves applications from individuals eligible for exemptions and other forms of property tax relief and analyzes trends in sales prices, construction costs, and rents to best estimate the value of all assessable property. These points can impact county buildings, schools and public safety departments as well as the overall real estate community.

Apart from being the property appraiser for Central Florida’s largest county, the person who assumes the role will oversee the office’s exemptions department, deed and research division and tax roll coordination department while also ensuring customer service needs are met when dealing with property owners.

Meet the candidates you can expect to see on the ballot:

Amy Mercado

Mercado is looking to pivot from her role in Tallahassee to bring her professional background to the local level. Mercado currently serves Orange County residents in Florida’s House District 48 and has been since 2016. She is the only woman whose name will appear on the ballot for the role of property appraiser.

The working mother of six is of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, according to her website biography. She has called Orange County home since 1996. The Florida House representative has an educational background in business, earning her MBA from Strayer University. Beginning her career in administrative work for the health care industry, she moved on to work as a project manager for several public finance attorneys in Central Florida before representing Orange County residents in Tallahassee.

If elected, Mercado said she hopes to serve as the link between property owners and the real estate community while ensuring schools, libraries and public safety departments are properly funded. Mercado said she will restore trust in the office by prioritizing transparency, efficiency and service.

To learn more about Mercado and her experience, click here.

Khalid Muneer

Khalid Muneer is an established businessman in Central Florida, running on the platform of “trust, transparency and accountability.”

Muneer is the founder of his real estate brokerage company Jupiter Properties Inc., which he has expanded in its nearly two decades of existence. Before making the leap and opening his own company, he gained 17 years of experience in banking and finance. The father of five notes he has just as much experience being a husband to his wife Shabnam for 39 years and counting. Muneer was born in Pakistan but raised in the United Kingdom. Having lived in nine different countries, he says his background contributes to his professional focus of having an international staff capable of servicing a culturally diverse customer base.

Muneer started his company in Palm Coast with a focus on Flagler and Volusia counties, but after the real estate market crashed in 2008, his company diversified to cover a wider geographic area, eventually moving the office to Orlando in 2009.

In his company bio, Muneer says he enjoys meeting and interacting with people while serving in various leadership roles and using his diverse background to relate with others.

In running for public office as the Orange County property appraiser, Muneer wants to “bring back the credibility and trustworthiness of the office which has been eroded over the years,” his website reads.

To learn more about Muneer and his platform, click here.

Rick Singh

Rick Singh is the incumbent hoping to extend his time in the Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office.

Touting his experience, Singh’s website says he’s appraised over $1 trillion of market value for Orange County since he took office in 2013. His time at the office started nearly 20 years ago when he started as a field appraiser and worked his way up into the elected role he holds now.

Before he started his career at the OCPA, Singh served in the United States military. After graduating from Aviation High School in New York, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division Mechanized, where he worked on helicopter armament subsystems. Singh was honorably discharged in 1986, according to his website biography.

Having lived in Orlando for more than 25 years, Singh became a licensed real estate broker and state-certified residential appraiser. He and his wife have two children who currently attend the University of Central Florida.

During his time in office, he’s created and hosted the State of Orange County Real Estate address and the Property Tax Savings Expo to help inform the public of industry changes and services offered by the OCPA.

Singh was also accused of altering OCPA records submitted to the comptroller’s office during a 2015-2016 audit. The audit was focused on fuel and travel expenses. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement began investigating the misconduct allegation against Singh in 2018 and decided last month not to pursue charges.

During Singh’s re-election campaign, he has said he did nothing wrong and has stood by his experience and work as the county appraiser, saying he looks forward to continuing to be of public service.

Learn more about Rick Singh, his time in office and his campaign here.

Florida’s primary is Aug. 18.

You can learn more about the primary and what races you can expect to see on your ballot with ClickOrlando.com’s complete 2020 voter guide.