ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County property appraiser Rick Singh rolled out a fleet of 30 new hybrid cars for appraisers to use.
Singh said the cars will save taxpayers $779,000 over 10 years.
But 9 Investigates reporter Daralene Jones reports that some are wondering if the cars aren't just rolling billboards for Singh's re-election campaign.
Slideshow: New Orange County property appraiser's vehicles
A YouTube video promotes the hybrid vehicles that property appraisers will drive -- rather than their own cars -- to assess Orange County property values.
Jones showed the video to some Orange County residents.
"He's obviously advertising for himself," resident Linda Nguyen said.
Singh's name appears eight times on the vehicles, covering the doors and even the back windshield, along with his email address.
His opponent in the 2016 election, County Commissioner Scott Boyd said he questions Singh's motivation.
"They look like a NASCAR car driving around town, with the insignia of Rick Singh. It's tax dollars being utilized to promote a political campaign," Boyd said.
Repeated emails and calls to Singh's office to ask about the cost of the cars and past fuel expenses have been ignored.
It's been a pattern with Singh's office to refuse to answer requests for public information from 9 Investigates.
Pictures Jones obtained from other property appraisers in central Florida show just how unusual Singh's new fleet of cars is. Most other county's vehicles only include the county logo and if the property appraiser's name appears it tends to do so only once and in smaller lettering. In Osceola County the vehicles aren't marked.
There's a fine line between promoting the office and promoting the office holder. In my judgement Rick Singh has stepped way over the line," WFTV political analyst Rick Foglesong said.
Nguyen said the cars will be on her mind when she votes in 18 months.
"You're not going to forget something like that," she said.
Singh ignored Jones' request to do an interview on the cars. When she told representative from his office that her story on the cars would air at 6 p.m. Tuesday, they responded with an email at 4:30 p.m. saying they were working on getting the information she had requested on the cars.
WFTV
